Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Monday said he had been prepared to use nuclear weapons if India had crossed the border earlier this year.

Addressing Pakistan Air Force veterans in Karachi, General Musharraf said he had told Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, through international leaders who visited Pakistan, that if Indian troops moved a single step across the international border or the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, they should not expect a conventional war.

Tensions between India and Pakistan had peaked earlier this year when both sides sent troops to the border after a deadly attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001.

New Delhi blamed Islamabad, accusing Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence of masterminding the assault. Pakistan denied the charge. International diplomacy played a major part in averting a war. Tensions seem to have eased since with both sides saying they have withdrawn troops from the border.

India termed the general's remarks as "highly dangerous" and "provocative" and asked the international community to take note of it.

Such statements could hamper the the prospects of any meaningful progress in India's relations with Pakistan, a senior official in New Delhi said.

Meanwhile, dispelling notions that Pakistan's nuclear capability deterred India from going to war, outgoing army chief General S Padmanabhan said the defence forces were absolutely ready, but waited for a political nod.

"We were absolutely ready to go to war. Our forces were well located," he told reporters in New Delhi. "[But] such a decision [whether to go to war] is ultimately a political decision."

Gen Padmanabhan, who retires on Tuesday, said, "When we assess our adversaries, we assess all its capabilities. We had evaluated it and were ready to cope with it."

On when India would have a formal nuclear and strategic command to control the country's nuclear and missile forces, he said, "These are certainly things not in the public domain. We may have an informal structure already and which in time could acquire a formal status."

Padmanabhan said Operation Parakram had proved a boon for the armed forces in upgrading equipment and the training of personnel.

He said that with the procurement board in place, the modernisation drive in the armed forces had achieved a certain momentum.

Asserting that militarily the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was good contrary to what was being reported in the media, the general said, "It is due to their low morale that militants are hitting soft targets and indulging in barbaric acts like slaying women and children.

"We have been able to choke their [the militants'] money and arms supplies," he said, adding that the army's interception ratio on the LoC and the international border had increased. Even captures and surrenders in the rest of the valley were on the rise.