DATE=06/02/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=INDIA PAK ASIAN SUMMIT (S)

NUMBER=2-290418

BYLINE=LARRY JAMES

DATELINE=MOSCOW

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The leaders of India and Pakistan travel to the central Asian nation of Kazakhstan today (Sunday) for a 16-nation Asian security summit. But, as Larry James reports from Moscow, it seems unlikely that a hoped-for meeting between the two men will take place.

TEXT: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said before leaving home that he had no plans to meet with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. But he said he would give serious consideration to that idea sometime in the future, if he sees evidence that Mr. Musharraf makes good on a pledge to crack down on Islamic militants.

Mr. Musharraf has said he is willing to meet with his Indian counterpart at the conference in order to defuse tensions between the two nuclear neighbors, which have massed a million soldiers along their border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will also attend the summit. He has been urging the two sides to come together to defuse the crisis and has offered to mediate.

The Pakistani leader said Saturday the possibility of a nuclear war with India is unthinkable.

The escalating tensions between India and Pakistan led the United Nations, the United States, Britain, Israel and several other nations to pull staff out of the area and urge their citizens to leave India and Pakistan.

NEB/LDJ/FC