Vijay Kumar's 17-year-old daughter left last week to spend the summer in the most tense place in the world — the India-Pakistan border.

        But her dad is hopeful that tensions will not escalate as his youngest daughter, Surbhi Sharma, visits her grandparents in India, less than 16 miles from the divide between two antagonistic nations armed with nuclear weapons.

        “They are smart enough not to use them,” said Mr. Kumar, of Anderson Township. “If anybody uses a nuclear weapon, it would be a disaster not only for the other party, but for themselves.”

        Tristate residents with ties to India and Pakistan say they are hoping for a peaceful solution to the border conflict. But not all are certain a diplomatic solution is possible.

        Mr. Kumar, who grew up in India, says he prays the conflict won't escalate to nuclear war. He is among 7,900 Asian Indians in the Tristate. There are about 400 Pakistanis.

        A 23-year-old University of Cincinnati student, Sheetal Patel, says she isn't sure a peaceful resolution can be reached..

        “Somebody has to do something,” said Ms. Patel, who left India about five years ago. “It seems like something will happen that will be bad.”

        Ms. Patel uses a satellite television system to monitorevents as they unfold in India. She still keeps in touch with friends and family.

        “I am constantly worried about them,” said Ms. Patel, who recently canceled a trip to the region. “We usually call every other day to see if they are safe.”

        Friends have told her by phone, e-mail and letters that they are sometimes unable to leave their homes because of curfews.

        “Everyone in the country wants war against Pakistan, but the government is still saying no,” she said. “They are angry because they have to suffer a lot.”

        Kaleem Ansari, president of the Pakistan Cultural Association in Cincinnati, says what is happening in his homeland is very troubling.

        “There is no justification for the reaction on both sides,” said Mr. Ansari of West Chester. “We are basically the same people, and we had lived in the past together. There is no reason why we can't live together now.”

        Despite the tension, he says his friends and family in the region are “pretty calm.”

        “We are more worried here then they are there,” he said. “They have become used to it.”

        Mr. Ansari says he talks about the conflict with his Indian friends in the Cincinnati area, and both sides agree that foreign intervention is the solution. It is most important, he says, that everyone be treated with dignity.

        “My friends and I have said that maybe we should go back so that we can talk some sense into the Pakistanis as well as the Indians,” he said, half-jokingly. “We are outside, living abroad. When we look at things, we see it from a different perspective.”

        Dr. Zahida Kaukab of Symmes Township, say friends and family in Pakistan seem like they are “in denial.”

        “They are not sure what is happening, so they are scared,” said Dr. Kaukab, who has lived in the United States for 28 years, but travels back to her homeland nearly every year.

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