Washington, Dec. 28 :    Washington, Dec. 28:  US secretary of state Colin Powell's 'assurance' to General Pervez Musharraf and foreign minister Abdus Sattar last week that India will not attack Pakistan was not based on any undertaking given to Washington by New Delhi. On the contrary, it is a sober reflection of the assessment of the sub-continental military situation here, which is vital for America's own war effort in Afghanistan. Powell, a retired general who has interrupted his Christmas vacation to defuse tension between India and Pakistan, has concluded that since Indian military preparations are being made in public, it is unlikely that New Delhi's objective is to go to war. Sources here said Powell has pointed out to his colleagues in the administration that India is publicising every one of its military moves, including the deployment of missiles and their location. This is not the way an army prepares for war, he is said to have told colleagues. Powell's view is that the real target of India's military preparations is Washington. The Americans believe that India is creating a situation where Washington is forced to apply the same amount of pressure on Musharraf that forced him on September 19, in an address to the nation, to make a U-turn on the Taliban. This time, the U-turn would have to be on anti-Indian terror outfits. Powell and Donald Rumsfeld, his counterpart at the Pentagon, are aware that there are hawks at the army general headquarters in Rawalpindi who are counselling Musharraf to launch a pre-emptive strike to seize a large part of Indian territory as a bargaining chip in the event of a full-scale war with India. The public expression of worry at the Pentagon yesterday over diversion of Pakistani forces from the hunt for Osama bin Laden and protection for US forces and installations in Pakistan was made precisely with this in mind. Military analysts here said the US would do its utmost to prevent Pakistan army's 11 and 12 corps, located at Peshawar and Quetta, from being moved closer to the Indian border. Nearly one-sixth of Pakistan's six-lakh strong army is now either combing the border with Afghanistan for al Qaida and the Taliban or protecting US forces in their territory. In November, Washington said it would give Islamabad $73 million for such work on the border. An additional incentive for Pakistan would be the reimbursement of the entire cost of $400 million for this effort. Rumsfeld said at his briefing yesterday: 'The Pakistan situation is an important one. They (Pakistanis) have not yet moved forces from the Afghan border, and that is very encouraging to us, They must have seven or eight, nine battalions along the Pakistan-Afghan border.'