NEW DELHI, June 11: US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived here on a South Asian peace mission on Tuesday, warning that while tension between nuclear armed India and Pakistan has levelled off, the situation on the ground has not improved.

Rumsfeld said he came as “a friend” — not a mediator — with a series of proposals aimed at coaxing both sides to scale back the hair trigger military confrontation. He refused to describe the proposals, but said it was not an all-or-nothing plan for ending the conflict.

“It isn’t this or nothing,” he said. “It is a set of linkages, it is a whole series of things, any one of which might be helpful to them, leading to a step-by-step de-escalation of the situation.”

In Qatar he had told reporters there were “hopeful signs” that war in South Asia could be averted.

But he cautioned reporters on the flight to New Delhi that while statements from both capitals were encouraging, the situation on the ground has not improved.

“I cannot say that I see a trendline that is getting better or worse. It seems to me that its roughly level. I see all the indicators, the relevant indicators, and they are not better,” he said.

“Some of the words that have been said are somewhat encouraging, but what is important is what actually happens on the ground as opposed to words.

“But words are helpful and as I indicated earlier today both sides are saying things that are helpful and managing their affairs in a responsible way.”

Earlier Tuesday, India announced it had recalled a fleet of warships deployed off the coast of Pakistan in what it said was a bid to defuse tensions with its neighbour.

Rumsfeld warned that militants, including Al Qaeda members, might try to create an incident in Kashmir that would draw India and Pakistan into a war.

Asked if there was evidence to show Al Qaeda members were in Kashmir, he replied: “I have seen intelligence that reports that people are saying they are in there.”

In Doha, he said it was “conceivable that some of them might decide it’s in their interest to create an incident, not to the benefit of Kashmir, but to cause a conflict between India and Pakistan with the hope they can pick up the pieces to their advantage.”

“To the extent we’re all aware of that — and they are — it’s less likely such an incident could cause a miscalculation.”

US officials have discussed sharing with both sides overhead surveillance of the line of control separating Indian and Pakistani controlled Kashmir to lessen the chance of miscalculation.

Meanwhile Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf described the Indian gestures to ease the tensions as a “very small beginning”.

“We expect substantive steps from the Indian side now to proceed further,” Musharraf told reporters in Abu Dhabi.

Responding in New Delhi, Indian foreign affairs spokeswoman Nirupama Rao described New Delhi’s gestures as “important steps.”

“They are significant steps and ... are an expression of our desire to reduce tensions and pursue the path of peace because to peace there is no alternative,” Rao told a media briefing.

The defense secretary is scheduled to hold a series of meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday, including with Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes, Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.—AFP