Troops along border as Indo Pakistan war fears grow

India and Pakistan have moved ever closer to war as the rival armies shelled each other in Kashmir and thousands of border villagers were evacuated.

The shelling began after the nuclear-armed rivals exchanged the toughest diplomatic and economic sanctions since their last war in 1971.

Tens of thousands of soldiers, squadrons of fighter jets, artillery and ballistic missiles face each other along the 1,100 miles frontier that extends from the Himalayas in the north through the Thar Desert to the Arabian Sea in the south.

And more are on their way. Pakistan is to move its troops guarding the Afghan border to confront India - leaving the coalition against terrorism in the lurch.

It is also recalling 4,000 troops serving as UN peacekeepers in Sierra Leone.

Both nations rushed troops and weapons to the border after a suicide attack on India's parliament on December 13. India accuses Pakistan of supporting the attackers. Pakistan denies the charge.

Both sides say they do not want war, but each says it is ready.

"There is no measuring scale that we have to say how near or how far we are to war," Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said. "I will just say this: Don't worry. We are ready."

A Pakistani government spokesman, General Rashid Quereshi, responded in kind. "We have the capacity to react and retaliate in all conceivable ways," he said.

India has ordered 5,000 people to leave 17 villages northwest of, Kashmir's winter capital, within 36 hours. Earlier, 24 villages with 10,000 inhabitants were evacuated.