Pakistan yesterday put its forces on high alert after unprecedented Indian air strikes in disputed Kashmir, as the military warned the crisis could snowball into a wider conflict.
A foreign office spokesman called on United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, to send an envoy to the volatile region "for the preservation of peace and security".
"Kashmir today is a nuclear flash-point," he said of the state divided between the rivals who both tested nuclear weapons last year. India said its air force had launched the attack in an attempt to flush out what it described as Pakistan-backed guerrillas entrenched on the heights in Kargil and Daras sectors. A military spokesman said the Pakistani army was on high alert and would act unless the rival forces backed off.
"Pakistan reserves the right to retaliate in whatever manner considered appropriate," he said, adding that continued Indian violations of Pakistan's territory could "snowball into a bigger conflict".
"We are very, very carefully monitoring the situation on the line of control," he said of the 720 km de facto border between the two zones of the contested territory.
The spokesman said a few bombs landed on the Pakistan side during yesterday's aerial bombardment by the Indian air force, but there was no damage.
The spokesman said India launched the first air strike around dawn in a barrage which lasted 30 minutes in the mountainous Kargil and Daras regions. Two more strikes came later, the last at about 2.15 p.m. (10.15 a.m. Irish time). Pakistan has accused India of escalating tensions in the volatile Himalayan state, divided between the two countries and claimed by both. The new nuclear powers have fought two wars over the region.
The military spokesman said that while Pakistan supported the Kashmiris' struggle politically, morally and diplomatically, "there is no question of logistic or active military help by the Pakistan army".
The air strikes follow weeks of cross-border artillery duels. The spokesman said more than 100 Indian troops had been killed since a clash on May 6th near the Siachen glacier, the world's highest battlefield.
Indian claims that the Afghan Taliban militia had infiltrated the area and become involved in the Kashmiri struggle were "ridiculous", he said.
The Pakistani and Indian directors-general of military operations talked by telephone yesterday in an attempt to defuse border tensions.
The contacts followed a telephone conversation between the Pakistani Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, and his Indian counterpart, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, after India's unprecedented air strikes against the alleged Muslim militants.
The foreign office spokesman played down fears the situation could boil over into an all-out conflict. "I hope absolutely not," he said in response to a question. "We believe such an escalation is unwarranted and it s avoided.
"We want to promote dialogue with India. We want the political process to go on," he said, adding that Pakistan had no intention of escalating the situation "in any manner".
He warned that military action being carried out behind the "smokescreen of flushing out the `infiltrators' is fraught with danger".
Welcoming Tuesday's call by Mr Annan for restraint and an end to the fighting, the spokesman said the crisis required the UN "immediately" to reinforce and activate its military observers monitoring the line of control.