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Indo-Pak tension dominates Rumsfeld-Blair talks

H S Rao in London

Fears of war between India and Pakistan dominated the talks between United States Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London on Wednesday even as Britain asked its nationals in the two countries to leave the region immediately.

An official spokesman of the prime minister's office said the two leaders have expressed 'deep concern' about the military mobilisation on both sides.

British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, who also held discussions with Rumsfield, who is on his way to New Delhi and Islamabad, said the pair had 'compared notes' on the tensions between the two nuclear nations and would 'continue to work closely together to try to reduce tensions'.

Hoon said both sides have to 'step back from the brink' of war and be prepared to discuss issues around Kashmir.

"It is certainly encouraging that Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said that India would consider monitoring the disputed border in Kashmir jointly with Pakistan," he said.

Describing the situation as 'dangerous' Rumsfeld said both sides had been trying to damp down the crisis.

"There is no question that when you have two nations that have nuclear weapons and the situation is as it is between India and Pakistan, it is a dangerous situation," Rumsfeld said.

Blair, US President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin were 'anxious to work with these two countries so that in fact the tensions are some what relieved rather than made worse', Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld said Vajpayee and his Pakistani counterpart, President Pervez Musharraf, were 'sophisticated and knowledgeable people'.

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