India and Pakistan still close to war

India and Pakistan toned down the rhetoric yesterday in the bitter Kashmir dispute that has fuelled international fears of the world's first nuclear war.

But the Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, continued to reject proposals for a direct meeting with the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, to defuse the crisis, despite the presence of both leaders at a regional summit in central Asia.

Mr Vajpayee ruled out face- to-face talks with General Musharraf until India obtained proof that Pakistan had stopped incursions into the Indian-controlled portion of the disputed territory of Kashmir.

The two leaders have been under international pressure to back away from a conflict which, if it became nuclear, could cost 12 million lives, according to Pentagon estimates. Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, will be the latest leader to try to persuade the two men – in separate talks on the sidelines of the summit in Kazakhstan's capital, Almaty – to find a peaceful solution.

The West's co-ordinated decision to advise nationals to leave India and Pakistan appears to be part of the pressure applied on the two governments to underscore how seriously they should be taking the crisis.

Several hundred Britons are understood to have returned home since the Foreign Office issued its warning on Friday, and evacuation plans to airlift up to 20,000 UK nationals out of India and Pakistan in case of conflict are being prepared.

General Musharraf, speaking on his way to the Almaty summit, said: "Pakistan will not start a war. We support solving the conflict through peaceful means."

On Saturday, he began playing down the risk of nuclear war, saying that no sane person would contemplate such a prospect. India's Defence Minister, George Fernandes, responded by saying he was "very happy that he [Mr Musharraf] has realised that only the insane would go for a bomb".

But Mr Fernandes also sought to minimise the risk of nuclear conflict with Pakistan. "India will not be impulsive," he said. "Neither will we waver in our determination for the simple reason that what we have been fighting and will continue to fight is the war against terrorism – the same terrorism which hit the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon".

Mr Fernandes said India would respect its pledge not to be the first to use nuclear arms.

Prospects of an early resolution of the crisis appeared remote, even though Mr Musharraf was offering to meet Mr Vajpayee "anywhere and at any level".