"One cannot believe that Pakistan is a member of the anti-terrorism coalition, formed to root out the terrorism from the globe after the terrorist attack in the US," Fernandes told reporters in this eastern metropolis.

"It is now a well-known fact that Pakistan is sponsoring terrorism to India for over two decades," Fernandes said referring to New Delhi's claim that Islamabad supports an Islamic insurgency in the Himalayan region of Kashmir.

More than 38,000 people have died in Indian Kashmir since the eruption of an anti-Indian rebellion in the region in 1989. Separatists say the toll is twice as high.

Fernandes said Afghanistan's former hardline Taliban rules, and the al-Qaeda held responsible for September 11 attacks on New York and Washington two years ago, had their centres in Pakistan.

The minister, who is on a visit here, said infiltration of Islamic rebels into Kashmir was continuing unabated.

"Infiltration into Kashmir has ups and downs, but it continues without a respite," he said.

The cross-border infiltration of rebels was at the heart of a 10-month long military stand-off between India and Pakistan last year, which was triggered by a militant attack on the Indian parliament complex in December 2001.

Tensions cooled only after extensive diplomatic efforts by Washington and London.

Tensions have risen again in recent weeks following a militant attack in a village in Muslim-dominated Kashmir, killing 24 Hindus.

Within days of the massacre, Indian foreign minister Yashwant Sinha told AFP that "India has a much better case to go for pre-emptive action against Pakistan than the US in Iraq," drawing a sharp response from Islamabad.

The United States too refused to draw any parallels between the situations in South Asia and Iraq and vowed to remain engaged in efforts to calm tensions between the two nuclear armed rivals.

Media reports said Saturday that the US was planning to despatch envoys to the region, including Secretary of State Colin Powell or his deputy Richard Armitage, within the next two weeks to ease tensions.

SPACE.WIRE