India plans to get tough on militants

India’s new foreign minister doubts Pakistan intends to stop cross-border incursions by Islamic militants in Kashmir completely, and said India must be "very, very careful" in dealing with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Yashwant Sinha said infiltration by suspected Islamic guerillas into Indian Kashmir appeared to be on the rise, despite Musharraf’s promise to stop Pakistan-based militants from entering India.

Sinha, who was finance minister until last week, swapped jobs with former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh in a Cabinet reshuffle ordered by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday.

His comments reiterated India’s long standing position, and indicated there would be no major change in its Pakistan policy.

Musharraf’s pledge had eased tensions between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours that had nearly escalated to war.

Musharraf never made the promise in public, and has denied in media interviews that he ever said it. It was conveyed to New Delhi by a US envoy.

‘‘We started doubting his intention the day he tried to backtrack from his assurance,’’ Sinha said.

‘‘We need to be very, very careful in our dealings with General Musharraf.’’

More than a dozen militant groups have been fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Islamic Pakistan. Jammu-Kashmir is India’s only Muslim majority state.

India accuses Pakistan of training, arming and funding the 12 year insurgency, which has killed more than 60,000 people.

The two nations have fought three wars, two over control of Kashmir, since they won independence from Britain in 1947.