At a meeting with the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the CPI general secretary, A.B. Bardhan, said today that war was not a solution to tackle the situation arising out of cross-border terrorism. There was no such thing like ``a limited war'' especially when both the countries shared the border.

In his 45-minute meeting, he told the Prime Minister that the option of war should be kept aside. ``Speaking the language of war will not bring a solution. We should take economic and diplomatic measures against Pakistan with firmness,'' Mr. Bardhan told correspondents.

On the diplomatic front, he said that though asking Islamabad to recall its High Commissioner from India was a declaration of New Delhi's intent, the move was not enough. India should ask Washington to put greater pressure on Pakistan to shut down the terrorist camps on its soil and cut back on economic aid. Also, India should mobilise international opinion against Islamabad.