WASHINGTON, May 30: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday he was prepared to share with leaders of India and Pakistan US intelligence in the consequences of a nuclear war.

“It’s the millions and millions and millions of people who live in those two countries who would be damaged by a conflict,” he said.

A subdued Rumsfeld acknowledged that a key US concern was to avoid miscalculations by ensuring that all sides have a common understanding of the situation.

“It is important that people work off the same set of facts, and the same sheet of music and having a relatively clear understanding about the implications of various things might be is a very useful thing,” he said.

Mr Rumsfeld said he would be “happy” to provide intelligence to both sides on the consequences of a nuclear war.

“We’ve done a lot of thinking about that here, having had nuclear weapons for 55, 57, 58 years now,” he said.

“So we’ve given a lot thought to their use, what the immediate effects are, what the lingering effects are, and what the secondary effects can be with respect to other problems,” he said.—AFP