Nobody wants war but situation worrisome: PM

Downplaying apprehensions of an armed conflict with Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said nobody is talking about a war but noted that the situation was worrisome.

Describing the terror strikes in Mumbai as an "attack on India's ambitions to become an economic power", he asked the world community to make Pakistan dismantle the "terror machine" existing on its soil.

"The issue is not war. The issue is terror and territory in Pakistan being used to provoke, to aid and abet terrorism.

I think that is the issue, the issue is not war. Nobody wants war," he told reporters outside Parliament when asked for his comments on the current stand-off with Pakistan in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks.

His comments were clearly aimed at putting to rest the fears of a war, a day after Pakistan Air Force conducted aerial manoeuvres in major cities to demonstrate its preparedness for military conflict.

Without naming Pakistan, Singh told a conclave of over 120 Indian Ambassadors and High Commissioners here that "non-state actors were practising terrorism aided and abetted by state establishments."

India is seeking peace and stability in its neighbourhood but the situation was "worrisome", Singh told the first-of-its-kind conference called to apprise envoys on how to present New Delhi's case across the world in the current scenario.

Referring to terror strikes in Mumbai, he said these were "an attack on the country's ambitions to emerge as an economic power" but "India would not accept a situation where terrorism is used as an instrument to cripple India's economy or the values it stands for."