India debates response to Kashmir raid

War games between the United States and India come at a tense time

NEW DELHI, India -- India's parliament convenes Friday to discuss the country's response to a deadly rebel attack in Kashmir.

Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes, Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani and intelligence officials met on Thursday. Details of a possible reponse are likely to be announced during Friday's debate in parliament.

India is blaming Pakistan for the deadliest attack in eight months on its side of the disputed region of Kashmir, in which at least 33 people died.

Pakistani police arrested the leader of the group India blames for Tuesday's attack, but New Delhi says Islamabad hasn't done enough to stop the violence.

Pakistan has condemned the attack but said it was prepared for any military response from India.

The neighbors have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, and have hundreds of thousands of troops on war alert along their frontier following a December raid on India's parliament, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistani-based militants.

War fears

GALLERY State of violence    CNN NewsPass VIDEO CNN's Satinder Bindra reports on the unprecedented military cooperation between the United States and India. Play video CNN's Satinder Bindra reports India blames Pakistan for the deadly attack in Kashmir that killed 31 people, including 12 children and 10 women. Play video   IN-DEPTH KASHMIR: Where conflict rules     CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

American officials have tried to dissuade India and Pakistan from having an all-out war.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Wednesday, on the heels of a stop in New Delhi.

Rocca said the Bush administration is monitoring the situation on the subcontinent very closely.

Washington fears even limited military action by India could escalate into war and derail its fight to root out al Qaeda militants in Afghanistan.

Pakistani police have arrested the leader of the group India blames for Tuesday's attack, but New Delhi says Islamabad hasn't done enough to stop the violence.

Pakistan has condemned the attack but said it was prepared for any military response from India.

Mercury soars

Meanwhile, Washington and New Delhi have teamed up for war games in India for the first time in almost four decades as subcontinent tensions reach a fevered pitch.

The 90 U.S. paratroopers were joined by 90 Indian paracommandoes in the 'Iroqois,' maneuvers, which defense analysts say marks a huge shift in India's military posture.

"The Indians are giving access to their military facilities, to the U.S. forces which they never did even to the soviet forces during the cold war,'' said Commodore Uday Bhaskar.

Soldiers parachuted from the skies and even swapped gear, in a bid to better understand each other so they're capable of launching joint operations

The exercises in the sky are being joined by help in the waters. In another significant break from the past, the Indian navy has started escorting U.S. cargo ships exiting the Straits of Malacca.

But this kind of patrolling, even with U.S. blessings, has China and Malaysia very concerned.

'Appropriate action'

The war games between the two are unprecedented

Nonetheless, the exercise forms part of greater defense co-operations between the world's largest democracies.

On Wednesday, U.S. President George W. bush called the Indian Prime Minister to offer his condolences after the latest terrorist attack in Kashmir.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told Bush he would take "appropriate action," Indian officials told Reuters news agency, without elaborating.

These threats worry Washington, which is working closely with the armies of both countries in its ongoing war against terrorism.

U.S. policy makers are hoping this new round of military friendship can be used to try to promote peace between India and Pakistan.

More than a dozen Islamic groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from India since the militant insurgency began in 1989.

Authorities say that around 30,000 people have been killed during the campaign in the Muslim majority state.

India accuses Islamabad of arming and training Pakistan-based militant groups but Islamabad denies the charges, saying instead it only provides moral and diplomatic support for Kashmiri separatists.

India controls about 45 percent of Muslim-majority Kashmir, Pakistan a third and China the rest.