NEW DELHI, Oct 23: India, seeking to play down President Pervez Musharraf’s strident words on the poor state of their bilateral relations, sought to assure him and the world on Tuesday that the caravan of peace with Pakistan which began in Agra had only stalled, not overturned, and it needed some greasing with peace overtures from Islamabad for the procession to move on again.

An Indian foreign ministry spokesperson, however, ruled out the need for assistance from the United States or any other party in what it said would remain a range of bilateral issues to resolve with its neighbour. The spokesperson, Nirupama Rao, was responding to a question on remarks by US Secretary of State Colin Powell in which he urged both sides to ease their tension, with US help if necessary.

“The caravan of peace has not been overturned,” Rao said in response to a question about the menacing rhetoric of late between the two countries. “For it to move forward again, some meaningful reduction in hostility from the other side is needed.” Analysts said it was a much milder New Delhi that greeted Gen Musharraf’s vitriol of Monday, noting that reduction in hostility was a notch below the usual refrain by New Delhi of a halt to cross-border terrorism as key condition for further talks.

If there was an American hand guiding the general demeanour in New Delhi it was not publicly acknowledged. And the only one who was allowed to speak slightly loudly by India on the subject was Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee himself, possibly because his personal equation with Gen Musharraf no one is privy to. Some believe that their mutual recriminations are cushioned by a measure of trust acquired during long and absorbing bilateral sessions the two had in Agra.

Vajpayee taunted Gen Musharraf for blowing hot and cold with India, but did not indicate that New Delhi was going to be provoked into a “manly” or pugnacious response as the Pakistani leader might have thought if not wished.

“On one occasion Musharraf Sahab plays the tune of peace and at another he adopts a ‘we’ll fix you’ kind of posture,” Vajpayee told a reception at his residence for Sikh anti-terrorist campaigners amid applause. “He must decide what he wants. As far as we can see he has turned upon the very Taliban that he nurtured so assiduously, the Taliban who he sometimes even threatened to unleash on us. Now who will trust this kind of opportunism. If friendships are measured by dependability, there is a lesson to be learnt from us.”

Vajpayee has so far maintained that he was not likely to meet General Musharraf in New York.

Powell told American reporters on his way back from Shanghai that in his talks with Indian and Pakistani leaders both sides expressed that they were “anxious to get the dialogue started. They are having a little difficulty getting the dialogue started. I will try to be helpful in that regard. They can’t let it get out of control. The stakes are too high,” he said. “I think they are both committed to the campaign against terrorism and I was pretty satisfied with the trip.”

Vajpayee, apparently referring to Powell’s comments, said: “We decide on our own as to what is good for the country and that is why we are respected and we have a place in the comity of nations and our views are sought on the future of Afghanistan.” One country that will be giving more of that space to India is Russia. Vajpayee is due to meet President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on a Nov 4-7 trip after which he flies to Washington for a meeting with President George W. Bush.

Powell also made a passing reference to possible Indian reaction if China modernises its missile force and enlarges its nuclear arsenal to counter US missile defence, and Pakistan follows suit to counter India. “If I were an Indian general, it wouldn’t trouble me because they, Indians and Pakistanis, are really concerned about the problems in their neighbourhood,” Powell said in reply to a question.

Spokesperson Rao declined to comment on Powell’s remarks but said India stood by its policy of being vigilant about developments in its neighbourhood, adding that relations with China were looking up, not down.