Pakistan says no war with India, US leads diplomatic efforts

Pakistan again said on Saturday that it does not want war with India, as the international community tries to defuse tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours after Islamabad moved troops to the border.

The White House called for calm amid a flurry of diplomatic activity in both Islamabad and New Delhi aimed at easing already badly strained ties, one month after the Mumbai attacks, which India has blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

“We don’t want to have aggression with our neighbours. We want to have friendly relations with our neighbours,” Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said at his official residence in remarks broadcast on state television.

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“I assure you once again that we will not act. We will only react,” he added, as he led a special prayer ceremony in honour of two-time former premier Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated one year ago in a gun and suicide attack.

On Friday, Pakistani officials said the military had moved troops from the tribal areas near Afghanistan, where they are fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, to the eastern border with India as a “minimum security” measure.

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