Declaring the nuclear option unthinkable, Pakistan's military President Mr Pervez Musharraf today sought to calm escalating fears that a military stand-off with India could lead to atomic war.
As the UN prepared to evacuate families of its staff from Pakistan, Mr Musharraf said in a television interview, I don't think either side is that irresponsible to go to that limit.
"I would even go to the extent of saying one shouldn't even be discussing these things, because any sane individual cannot even think of going into this unconventional war, whatever the pressures," he told CNN.
The US, Britain and other Western nations have flown home diplomats and their families from India and Pakistan and urged tens of thousands of their citizens to leave.
A million troops are facing each other across the India-Pakistan border, where armies have kept up a steady exchange of mortar and machinegun fire that has left dozens dead and displaced thousands of villagers over the past fortnight.
Adding to the tension, two grenade attacks in Indian Kashmir today killed one civilian and wounded 24. They followed two similar assaults yesterday. India blames the attacks on militants armed and trained by Pakistan who are fighting Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan region.
India has said it will not be the first to strike with nuclear weapons. Mr Musharraf said he would go beyond that. "We've called for a no-war pact (with India), that there shouldn't be any war," he said. "We've called for denuclearisation of South Asia, so we've called for a reduction of forces."