India said on Saturday it was "deeply disappointed" by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's response to recent peace overtures but stressed it would pursue efforts to end division between the two nuclear-armed states.
A Foreign Ministry statement said New Delhi was most concerned about remarks Musharraf made in a recorded interview with Indian television channel NDTV broadcast on Saturday about clashes in 1999 between Indian and Pakistani forces in the Kargil region of the divided state of Kashmir.
In the interview, Musharraf did not rule out the possibility of such an episode happening again.
The Indian statement said Musharraf's comments implied "military adventurism" was a legitimate way to solve the dispute over Kashmir.
"How can a peace initiative go forward in the face of such a signal non-peaceful intent?" the statement asked.
However, it added: "India will continue with its recent efforts, which have also found a tremendous resonance amongst the people and civil society in Pakistan."
The statement said it was "unfortunate" that Musharraf had also rejected the significance of elections held by India in its part of Kashmir last year and Indian proposals to promote peace by expanding economic and cultural cooperation. President Musharraf has himself referred to the lack of trust between the two countries. His dismissal of the importance of these steps only shows the vicious circle in which India-Pakistan relations have got trapped."
The statement reiterated that India would judge the Pakistani leadership by the specific steps it took to end infiltration of Muslim guerrillas into Indian Kashmir and to dismantle the support structure for "terrorism" in Pakistan.
It said the important first steps had been taken toward peace which needed to be "carefully nurtured."
"This requires restraint and maturity in addressing sensitive issues in India-Pakistan relations," it said.
Pakistan rejects India's accusations that it trains and arms Kashmiri militants and says it is doing its best to stop cross-border movement into Indian Kashmir.
Musharraf said in the interview he was slightly optimistic about improved ties with India but warned that any talks would fail unless Kashmir was addressed.
He stressed Pakistan did not trust India over Kashmir, an overwhelmingly Muslim territory.
At the same time, he said he would be "more than happy" to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, if he was willing to meet him. Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes welcomed the comment earlier on Saturday.
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