An appeal for restraint, implicitly condemning Pakistan's actions, came from a summit meeting of leaders from the seven leading industrialized countries and Russia. But that group does not include China, the outside country most involved in the tensions between India and Pakistan. If these tactics failed, the officials said, India would probably feel compelled to open a broader front farther south on the cease-fire line. The most troubling factor in the conflict, the Western sources said, were doubts that the Pakistani Army was still fully controlled by the government. By infiltrating Islamic guerrillas into Indian-controlled territory to start a shooting war in Kashmir, the Pakistani armed forces seemed to be subverting their own government's bid to lower tensions with India in the aftermath of the two nations' nuclear weapons tests last year.
Nuclear weapons are an ominous new dimension that was missing in the two previous wars won by India.
Both governments have denied any intention of using nuclear weapons except as a last resort, but neither side's restraint has been tested in a fast escalating conflict. In a widening conventional conflict, Pakistan would have to seek military supplies from China, a poor replacement for the United States, Pakistan's traditional ally, which has now pledged not to provide military help. India said Sunday that it had 30,000 men mobilized on the border with Pakistan. But India would need to assault Pakistan's flat border area to exploit fully the military superiority of its tanks and armored forces that enabled it to win two previous wars. For that reason, Pakistan has an advantage in confining the confrontation to Kashmir in a conflict that involves only guerrilla fighters, artillery and helicopters.