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BEIJING, June 3 (Reuters) - Chinese President Jiang Zemin will meet Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Almaty on Tuesday to try to ease tension between the nuclear-armed rivals.

The official Xinhua news agency quoted the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday as saying the meetings would take place at a 16-nation security conference in the Kazakh capital.

Vajpayee has ruled out a meeting with Musharraf at the conference despite fears of war between India and Pakistan and daily exchanges of mortar and small arms fire across the ceasefire line that divides the areas of Kashmir they control.

Jiang was due to leave Beijing for Almaty on Monday to attend the Conference for Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.

Kashmir is at the heart of the long-running dispute between the South Asian neighbours, which have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan territory since independence from Britain in 1947.

Kong said China, which also claims part of Kashmir, hoped India and Pakistan would show restraint and resolve their dispute through negotiation and dialogue.

The international community, including China, was keen to see the relaxation of the tension, which was in the interests of both India and Pakistan, he said. 

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