India yesterday ruled out a withdrawal of its troops from the Pakistani border, despite the arrest by the authorities in Islamabad of more than 1,400 religious extremists.
The sweeping crackdown involved five fundamentalist groups banned after Pakistan abandoned jihad (Islamic holy war) as an instrument of state policy.
"Any effort at de-escalation can come only if and when Pakistan ends cross-border terrorism," the Indian Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, said.
"The moment these incidents end on the border and within our territory, it is then time to think of de-escalating," he added.
India blames Pakistan for fuelling the 13-year-old insurgency raging in Kashmir, the disputed northern state that is divided between the neighbouring countries and claimed by both.
In his address to the nation on Saturday, the Pakistani president, Gen Pervez Musharraf, obliquely admitted Islamabad's involvement in the Kashmiri civil war, saying it would now end.
But Pakistan, he declared, would continue to support the Kashmiri cause "diplomatically, morally and politically". "Kashmir runs in our blood," Gen Musharraf said. "We will never budge an inch from our principled stand on Kashmir." Pakistan's interior ministry said police had picked up almost 1,400 extremists in a sweep that began shortly before Gen Musharraf announced his action against sectarian and militant groups waging civil war in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The targeted groups include Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the two Kashmiri insurgent groups which India accuses of engineering last month's suicide attack on its parliament.
The assault, in which 14 people including the five gunmen died, led to heightened military tension along the frontier, diplomatic sanctions on one another and the ending of bilateral rail, road and air links.
Mr Fernandes welcomed Gen Musharraf's speech, but said his pledges would "have to be translated into action". He also called on Gen Musharraf to "act fast" given the tense military stand-off on the 2,070-mile border.
More than one million troops have been deployed on the border in the last two weeks alongside their armoured formations and nuclear-capable missiles.
"We are keen to resolve issues peacefully, but if that does not work, we may be left with no option as the Indian armed forces are ready for any eventuality," Mr Fernandes said.
Meanwhile, international efforts to defuse the crisis intensified with the Chinese Premier, Mr Zhu Rongji, in Delhi pushing for de-escalation, and the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, scheduled to visit Pakistan and India this week.
President Bush spoke by phone to the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behrai Vajpayee, and Gen Musharraf on Sunday and called on both to continue their peace efforts.
But dissatisfied officials in Delhi said Gen Musharraf's speech was directed at a domestic and international audience and did not go far enough to meet Indian expectations.
Gen Musharraf also disappointed India by refusing to extradite 20 criminals as Delhi has demanded, by pledging to continue supporting the Kashmiri struggle and by inviting outside intervention to resolve the 55-year-old dispute. India strongly opposes any "third party" involvement in the Kashmir row, insisting it is a bilateral matter.
Indian diplomats and security officials said the war against terrorism in Afghanistan has not gone entirely in China's favour.
The Chinese are reportedly "highly uncomfortable" with the extended US military presence in four Pakistani bases, ostensibly to execute the Afghan campaign.
Beijing has long been wanting to base itself along the Balochistan coast as a bulwark against US presence in the Gulf region.
