Referring to the non-adherence of an agreement between India and Pakistan under which aircraft of neither side could fly within 10 km of each other's territory, Rubin said: ``Yesterday, we talked about the 1991 agreement that we indicated was not respected and I indicated there was a difference between `not respecting notification' part (by the Pakistani plane before flying over the area) and a much more serious (action by India) in not respecting the agreement by shooting down the aircraft.''

Referring to claims and counter-claims by India andPakistan on the location of the plane, Rubin said: ``We don't have thousands and thousands of American military or other personnel in these obscure locations in the region and, therefore, neither our human eyes nor any other capabilities are in a position to confirm conclusively the location of the plane.

``I don't know what radio signals were sent back and forth and what information was obtained by the wreckage. Apparently, both sides are disputing the wreckage and where it is located and various accusations have been made by both parties,'' he said.

Calling upon both the countries to abide by the 1991 agreement, Rubin said the US firmly backed the United Nations Security Council and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in calling upon both the countries to resolve their problems by peaceful means through dialogue, exercise restraint and ``act in a responsible way to prevent further tragedy and to reduce tensions''.``We have continued our contacts with both governments to urge restraint and dialogue. Ourcharge in Delhi will meet today with the Indian foreign secretary. We continue to remain in contact with the Pakistani authorities,'' he said.