NEW DELHI, May 24: Fears of war between Pakistan and India eased on Friday as the Indian prime minister left for a weekend break in the Himalayan foothills and an international peace push entered full swing.

Mr Vajpayee’s three-day break in the hill resort of Manali, Himachal Pradesh, was being interpreted by some as a signal war was not imminent.

After a week of tough talk, an Indian newspaper said the government would give Pakistan another two months to crack down on extremists before considering military action.

But as European Union External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten began talks with top officials in New Delhi, Pakistani and Indian forces again traded fire across the Line of Control.

Patten is the first of a series of top foreign envoys bound for the sub-continent to try to ease tensions between the two countries.

In a sign that tension was easing, stock markets in both countries surged early as investors took heart from India’s softer stand.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Thursday said he saw clear skies ahead rather than war clouds and although he warned lightning could strike any time, the Hindustan Times said India was giving Pakistan two months to crack down on extremists.

“Sources said a decision to begin a war against Pakistan would depend on how it acted in the next two months,” the daily said. The “war option would be closed” if there were no violent disruptions to elections for held Kashmir’s assembly due late in the year, it said.

However, an Indian defence ministry spokesman denied any such deadline had been set.

“(The report) is very speculative,” the spokesman told AFP. “Whatever decision was taken was announced by the prime minister in Kashmir on Thursday. This report appears to be speculative.”

INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE: As Vajpayee this week told frontline troops to prepare for a decisive fight, the international community stepped up pressure on both sides to cool the tension.