Atal Behari Vajpayee, Attending regional summit
The Chinese Premier has had swiftly arranged talks with the Pakistani President on the heightening border crisis between Pakistan and India. Zhu Rongji had urgent talks with Pervez Musharraf in Beijing, ahead of a regional summit of South Asian powers taking place in Nepal.
Indian Prime Minister and the Pakistani President are attending a regional conference of South Asian leaders in Nepal, but there are no plans for them to have direct talks.
There were reports that Indian and Pakistani forces exchanged mortar and small arms fire across their border in the Punjab. There were no reports of casualties, but some villagers are reported to be fleeing their homes. The incident will add to the tension between the two nuclear neighbours over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Earlier, India's Prime Minister said that war with Pakistan is not a necessity and he will make every effort to avoid it. Speaking on his arrival in Nepal ahead of the weekend regional summit, Atal Behari Vajpayee also stressed that when he said India would use all means at its disposal in the event of war, he had not meant to include nuclear weapons.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Bangladesh today as part of a week-long tour of South Asia. During his visit, he will attempt to calm relations between India and Pakistan.
Tensions between the neighbours has risen sharply since an attack on the Indian parliament last month, with Delhi blaming the attack on two Pakistan-based militant groups. Officials have denied that Mr Blair has a plan to defuse the crisis.
Two Indian soldiers were killed and seven wounded in an exchange of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops in the disputed territory of Kashmir overnight.
