WASHINGTON, Nov. 4—President Nixon and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India conferred at the White House for slightly more than two hours today, in what spokesmen called an atmosphere oft friendliness.

Ronald L. Ziegler, the White House press spokesman, said the talks covered South Asia in “substantial” detail. He defined South Asia as West Pakistan, East Pakistan and India.

Mr. Ziegler said that Mr. Nixon had indicated that the United States would do “what we could to help out” in that area. At the same time, he cautioned, the President's remarks fell into the framework of “existing policy” and “didn't break much new ground.”

Recent Tragedies Noted

Mr. Nixon, in his welcoming remarks on the White House lawn, said that the United States and India were not bound by a treaty In the technical sense but by a “higher morality.” He defined this as the cause of freedom, representative government and independence from foreign domination.

The recent tragedies that have struck India — particularly floods and tidal waves — have generated a sympathetic response here, he said.

Mrs. Gandhi, however, struck a more somber note in her reply. Speaking in English, she noted that India had been struck by many natural disasters.

“But the worst tragedy is a man‐made tragedy of vast proportions,” she declared. “I come here in search of some wise impulse that has sometimes worked to save humanity from despair.”

Muskie in Appeal

Mrs. Gandhi was referring to the Moslem and Hindu refugees who have fled from East Pakistan to India since March 25 in fear of the Pakistani Army.

On March 25 President Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan ordered the army to suppress widespread movement in East Pakistan for political autonomy. He has also arrested Sheik Mujibur Rahman, leader of the East Pakistan Awami League, which led the drive for autonomy.

Meanwhile, Senator Edmund S. Muskie, Democrat of Maine and a leading candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination, called for an end to all United States aid to Pakistan, for immediate relief aid to Pakistani refugees in India and for assurances to Mrs. Gandhi, that the United States would not continue supporting Pakistan until a settlement was reached in the East.

“At the heart of our frayed relations with India,” Mr. Mus kie said in a speech prepared for the Senate, “is the human tragedy taking place in East Pakistan — and the policy of continued support for Pakistan that our Government has insisted on.”

‘Sincere’ Understanding Cited

At day's end there was no indication that either President Nixon or Mrs. Gandhi had substantially altered the other's thinking.

Mrs. Gandhi told a private audience at the Smithsonian Institution that Mr. Nixon had demonstrated a “sincere” understanding of India's position.

However, neither Indian nor United States sources would go so far as to say that Mr. Nixon had agreed to Indian proposals that the United States exert pressure on President Yahya to release Sheik Mujib and to negotiate through him a peaceful political solution to East Pakistan's civil war. Nor was there any indication that the United States would step up its pressures on President Yahya to accept the return of all the refugees.

Mrs. Gandhi was reported to have told Mr. Nixon that India could not agree to United States proposals either for a troop withdrawal from the frontiers or for a United Nations “presence” in the form of observers on Indian soil.

India has long maintained that to accept foreign “observers” would equate her with Pakistan, which she considers the cause of the influx of refugees.

Mrs. Gandhi was to be the guest of honor tonight at state dinner at the White House. Tomorrow she is scheduled to meet again with President Nixon at 11 o'clock at the White House and then at noon to be guest of honor at a luncheon of the National Press Club.