KATHMANDU (Reuters) - The leaders of India and Pakistan will both attend a regional summit starting on Saturday, but neither showed any sign he planned to discuss a peaceful resolution of the nuclear powers' military standoff.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf attended a royal banquet with other South Asian leaders on Friday, before the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in the Nepali capital.
Officials said the two men were seated apart from each other at the banquet, and officials from both countries bristled when asked whether they would be the first to request talks.
The United States said on Friday it saw encouraging signs that the two countries want to avoid war and said it might send an envoy to promote a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
New Delhi and Islamabad have each massed troops along the dividing line in Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan province over which they have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.
Pakistani government spokesman Major-General Rashid Qureshi said that Islamabad would respond with all its might if attacked by India, and added that it had been assured support by its traditional military ally, China, in any eventuality.
The official start of SAARC meeting was delayed by a day because Musharraf's flight from China was delayed.
India, which deployed troops after it blamed Pakistan-based groups for a daring attack on its national parliament, said it had no plans to resume talks with Islamabad until it ended what it calls cross-border terrorism, particularly in Kashmir.
Washington, which has repeatedly urged India and Pakistan to stand down from conflict, said it saw encouraging signs that both nations want to avoid a war.