India refutes Pakistani war charges

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India's new defense minister has dismissed as "rubbish" charges by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that New Delhi was threatening to attack across the disputed border of Kashmir.

"India has never ever in its history gone to war or initiated a war," Defense Minister George Fernandes said in a CNN interview.

"So for the Pakistan president to say that India is planning to wage war against Pakistan is rubbish."

On Monday Indian soldiers shot dead four Pakistan-based rebels who tried to storm a key military airfield in the disputed Himalayan region, at Avantipur, south of Srinagar.

Musharraf later warned India against aggressive action in Kashmir, vowing to teach its neighbor a lesson if it attacks the Pakistani portion of the Himalayan province that both nations claim.

The nuclear rivals, who have fought two wars over the Kashmir, are under pressure from Washington to ease tensions during U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan.

Hindu-dominated India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring "cross-border terrorism" in Kashmir and of arming Muslim militant groups fighting Indian security forces there.

Pakistan denies the charge and says it provides only moral support to them.

Amid signs that tensions between the two nuclear neighbors show little signs of fading, Fernandes went so far as to say that Pakistan continues to play the terrorist war on both sides -- as it supports the U.S.-led war on terrorism, it continues to commit acts of terrorism.

He pointed to what he called terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Monday's suicide attack on an air base in Kashmir.

The heated rhetoric between the nuclear neighbors and rivals has mounted since Musharraf joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism, and Islamic militants have stepped up attacks on Indian interests in Kashmir.

"[Pakistan] not only sends terrorists but still trains terrorists, finances them, equips them and then pushes them in our territory," Fernandes said. "They did it yesterday."

Pressure has been building on New Delhi to strike against militant camps across the border after a suicide attack on Kashmir's legislature on October 1 killed 38 people.

'Don't cause problems'

In the past, India has asked Musharraf to use his influence to stop terrorist activity.

Musharraf told state-run Pakistan Television on Monday that India should not try to take advantage of the turmoil in Afghanistan.

He warned that if India tries to gain some advantage in Kashmir, Pakistan is fully capable of defending itself.

As a result of the tensions, India has refused to enter peace talks with Pakistan.

"When their guns are talking, who do we talk to when their guns are talking to us?" Fernandes asked.

The United States has urged both countries to renew stalled talks as it focuses on Afghanistan where it believes prime terrorist suspect Osama bin Laden is hiding.

But separatist violence has flared across Kashmir since the United States launched strikes on Taliban rulers in Afghanistan. More than 150 people have been killed since then.

India shelled Pakistani positions last week, ending a 10-month peace on the disputed frontier of Kashmir.

While Musharraf, who traveled to India in July for peace talks, has called for more dialogue, India has declined.

In India on Monday, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ruled out a meeting with Musharraf during the U.N. General Assembly session in New York next month.

Human rights groups say more than 60,000 people have been killed since the start of a secessionist movement in Indian Kashmir in 1989.