ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI -- Pakistan on Tuesday fired the third and last in a series of missile tests that had raised the stakes in its standoff with India as Britain's Foreign Minister began talks to try to pull the nuclear rivals from the brink of war.

India was due later on Tuesday to respond formally to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf who told his nation that Islamabad did not want war and would not start a fight.

But India's Defense Minister has already said that New Delhi had detected no signs of Pakistan seeing reason, Reuters reported.

"It appears that reason is still not finding any place in the leadership of Pakistan," Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes told ***Star News*** television.

He said India's options were narrowing, but added that to say both nations were on the brink of war "may not be proper".

His statement, and Pakistan's announcement that it had concluded missile tests, may ease tension for the first time since the latest crisis was sparked by an attack on an Indian army base in disputed Kashmir on May 14.

India blames Pakistani-based Kashmiri separatists for the attack, but Musharraf insisted again on Monday that there was no infiltration across the so-called line of control that divides the region.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Kashmir. New Delhi claims the Muslim majority state as integral Indian territory, but Islamabad says most Kashmiris want to belong to Pakistan or to be independent, and supports a referendum on the matter.

The two countries have close to a million men massed on their border, backed by fighter jets, heavy artillery and missiles.

Dozens of people have been killed and injured in the past two weeks by daily firing across the frontier, and thousands of villagers have fled to safer areas. Both sides again traded artillery and mortar fire on Tuesday, officials said.

--- Clear Message --- Although Pakistan has insisted the series of missile tests, which ended on Tuesday, were routine, observers say they were clearly aimed at sending a message that Islamabad could meet any Indian attack with massive retaliation, and showing it would have the capability to send nuclear weapons to Indian cities.

In its final test, Pakistan said on Tuesday it had successfully fired a 180-km (110-mile) range missile.

Musharraf said on Monday that he wanted peace with honor, adding war with India would be no easy victory for either side.

"There's no walkover here by any side. I am sure the Indians also know that," he said in an interview with the ***Financial Times*** shortly after his televised address.

"Sanity demands avoidance of war, but at the same time in the pursuit of peace you can't compromise on honor and dignity so one has to strike a balance between maintaining honor and dignity and going for peace also." But he also expressed support for the "liberation movement" in Kashmir and condemned Indian "tyranny and repression".

With international pressure growing on Musharraf to act on Indian demands to stop the militant attacks, Musharraf's speech appeared to contain no new initiatives.

An Indian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said New Delhi would give a considered response on Tuesday, but said with Pakistan "What you see is not what you get".

In comments to Reuters before leaving for Pakistan, British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said there was an urgent need to resolve tension to avoid a nuclear conflict which would wreck the subcontinent for years, but he admitted his mission would be difficult.

"There are clear limits to external diplomacy, so I am under no illusions about what I may or may not be able to do," he said.

He was meeting Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar and was due to meet Musharraf later on Tuesday.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair phoned Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Monday.

The United States -- which sees Musharraf as a key ally in its war on terror and in its campaign against the Al Qaeda network in Afghanistan -- has also urged restraint on both sides.