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Rumsfeld has no 'single proposal'

United States Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Tuesday evening that he has 'no single proposal' to help India and Pakistan pull back from the brink of war.

He told reporters travelling with him from Qatar to New Delhi that he has come to the region as a 'friend' rather than a 'mediator' and did not have a set remedy.

"First of all we're not going in with a single proposal and nor am I a mediator as such," he said.

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

Rumsfeld is due to meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee before leaving in the evening for Islamabad, where he is expected to meet Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday.

Rumsfeld said that while recent comments from India and Pakistan has been 'positive', intelligence data suggested the situation on the ground had not 'improved as much as the public statements implied'.

"I cannot say that I see a trend line that is getting better or worse. It feels to me like it's roughly level," he said.

"What's important is what actually happens on the ground, as opposed to words, but words are helpful," he added.

Reuters

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