Pakistan Army chief General Kayani (right) with Chinese vice-foreign minister He Yafei in Rawalpindi on Monday. (AP)

Islamabad/New Delhi, Dec. 29: Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani today underscored the need to “avoid conflict” with India as China joined efforts to ease tension between the neighbours by sending a top diplomat to Islamabad.

“The army chief highlighted the need to de-escalate and avoid conflict in the interest of peace and security,” said a brief military statement after Chinese vice-foreign minister He Yafei’s talks with Kayani and General Tariq Majid, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee.

Kayani’s remarks, believed to be his first publicised comments since bilateral tension escalated, came a few days after he was said to have ordered the transfer of some troops from the restive western frontier to the eastern border with India.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani also voiced his opposition to war and vowed not to allow his country’s soil to be used for terrorism.

“We have never wanted war with anybody.… We also want our soil should not be used for terrorism,” he said at the National University of Science and Technology.

“We don’t want any parallel government in the country and don’t want the writ of the government to be challenged,” he said without elaborating on what he was referring to.

A perception has been gathering ground in Delhi and elsewhere that the army is tightening its grip over the civilian government — one reason that prevented India from pushing the Pakistani administration too hard.

In New Delhi, officials felt that Pakistan was speaking of “de-escalation” under international pressure following repeated Indian assertions that Islamabad was using “war hysteria” to divert attention from its failure to act against terrorists.

The officials pointed out that Islamabad still seemed to be in no mood to accept the evidence handed over by the US and the UK on the involvement of Pakistani elements in the Mumbai attacks.

“De-escalating war hysteria does not amount to much since it was started by Pakistan. They should not have escalated in the first place. How can we pat them on the back for de-escalating now?” an Indian official asked.

With Pakistan reluctant to accept the evidence, Indian officials fear that the issue is steadily moving towards a dead end.

The foreign ministry is now awaiting a meeting with Pakistan’s high commissioner, Shahid Malik, who returned to Delhi after a 10-day trip to his country. The ministry hopes the meeting will give some insight into whether the interactions of Pakistani officials with the Chinese and the Iranians have had any impact.

Kayani’s comments came during his meeting with He Yafei, who arrived yesterday. He Yafei met foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi today.

“He is visiting in the context of this current situation between India and Pakistan. China is playing a very positive role,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mohammad Sadiq said.

He Yafei is also scheduled to meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani.

The visit follows close on the heels of Chinese foreign minister Yang Jeichi’s talks with both Qureshi and Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee.

During the weekend, the directors-general of military operations of India and Pakistan spoke over the hotline for the first time since last month’s terror attack on Mumbai. The conversation focused on ways of bringing down tension and the war hysteria.

Pakistan, which wanted to know whether India had ordered any troops build-up on the border, conveyed to the official that the country was in a “state of preparedness”, sources said. India reciprocated by saying its forces were on “operational alert” but no mobilisation had been ordered.

The Indian side said the Border Security Force was still manning its borders and other changes in “holding formations” were routine and in line with the annual schedule.