India help ease Kashmir tensions

India moved its warships away from waters near Pakistan as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in South Asia with ideas for helping the nuclear-armed neighbours avoid another war over Kashmir.

But pro-militant groups in Pakistani territory vowed to continue their guerrilla insurgency - and shelling and small-arms fire continued along the disputed province's frontier.

Rumsfeld, who was meeting today with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and was then set to fly to Pakistan, said he had concrete ideas about ``a whole series of things'' to help ease tensions, but would not elaborate.

"We're not going in with a single proposal, nor am I a mediator, as such,'' said Rumsfeld, offering a mildly upbeat assessment of the prospects for averting war.

Intelligence indicators showed virtually no improvement in the military standoff, he said, but "both sides have been saying things that are helpful and behaving in a responsible way."

Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf said the threat of war remained real as long as troops were nose-to-nose on the Kashmir border.

"As long as that capability remains, the situation will remain dangerous,'' he said. The Indian navy recalled its warships to Bombay a day after the government said it would allow Pakistani aircraft to fly over India after a six-month ban.

"Ships of the western fleet, which were patrolling different areas of the north Arabian Sea, have been recalled to their base as per the government decision,'' navy Cmdr Rahul Gupta said.