The shadow of Kashmir lay heavily over yesterday's meeting between President Clinton and the Indian Prime Minister in the Indian capital, New Delhi. Both Mr Clinton and Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee made repeated references to the troubles of the region which, hours earlier, had been thrown into focus by the massacre of 36 civilians in a Kashmiri village.
Without once mentioning Pakistan by name, President Clinton called on India and its nuclear-capable rival to show "restraint" in their approach to the volatile issue of Kashmir. He also urged them to respect the Line of Control - the de facto border and ceasefire line dividing Indian from Pakistani parts of the province - and to find a way of renewing dialogue with one another.
Adding that there could be no military solution to the Kashmir question, Mr Clinton said he would raise the same points when he visited Pakistan on his return home at the weekend.
Mr Vajpayee, who also excluded all mention of Pakistan from his remarks, denied there was any threat of war in the region. Referring to Monday evening's massacre in Kashmir, he issued a stern warning to India's opponents. "We have the means and the will to eliminate this menace," he said.
Indian police say 40 to 50 gunmen came to the mainly Sikh village of Chattisinghpura, 45 miles south of the state capital, Srinagar. The attackers are reported to have forced the residents from their homes, segregating the men from the women. They then opened fire on the men with automatic weapons.
An Indian government spokesman said yesterday evening that it held two militant Islamic organisations responsible for the massacre: Lashkar e Taiba and Hizbul Mujahiheen. The spokesman said both groups were supported by Pakistan.
It is the first such incident in which members of the tiny Sikh community have been killed anywhere in the state. Sikhs mainly work in the commercial sector, though they also figure strongly in India's armed forces. Mr Clinton described the massacre as "a horrible development" and said "violence must end".
However, he did not repeat his offer to mediate between India and Pakistan over the divided Himalayan territory. India has made it clear it will not accept international arbitration in what it considers a regional concern.
The US believes the nuclear potential of India and Pakistan makes Kashmir one of the most dangerous flashpoints in the world. The two countries have fought two wars over Kashmir and there were fears that a conflict there last year might provoke a full-scale nuclear exchange.
India's Prime Minister yesterday promised not to conduct further nuclear tests, not to engage in a nuclear arms race in the region and never to be the first party in a conflict to use nuclear weapons. Mr Vajpayee's commitments, however, fell short of US demands for a complete elimination of India's nuclear capability and for India's adherence to international test-ban and non-proliferation treaties.
At a news conference after their private meeting in the mor ning, the two leaders yesterday signed a "vision statement" outlining goals and areas of future Indo-US co-operation on foreign policy, international development and economic issues.