India vows to take revenge for attacks

NEW DELHI, India -- India warned it will be ruthless in dealing with Islamic militant infiltrators entering from Pakistan, as the nations' forces exchanged fire Tuesday across the volatile border dividing Kashmir. \nTuesday's gunfire came after the nuclear rivals exchanged the heaviest mortar and rocket fire of the year Monday night. It accompanied a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region to calm tensions and shore up support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism. \nPowell arrived in India's capital, New Delhi, from Pakistan Tuesday. He is to have dinner with Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh Tuesday evening, then meet with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Wednesday. \nThe Indian military claimed that Pakistan infiltrators had crossed the border Monday and it retaliated with force, launching mortar and rocket fire that destroyed 11 Pakistani posts. Pakistan responded.\nThe army also said the shelling was punishment for Pakistan's alleged aiding of Islamic militants fighting to separate the Himalayan province from India. \n"The army will act very decisively with no holds barred," Defense Minister George Fernandes said. "India will be ruthless in dealing with infiltrators and the kind of methods used by them, like laying of mines, killings ... getting into suicidal exercises." \nFernandes said Indian soldiers killed 30 militants who tried to cross a cease-fire line that separates the Pakistani- and Indian-controlled portions of Kashmir. Pakistan accused Indian forces of killing a woman and injuring 25 other civilians. \nFiring across the border continued into the early morning Tuesday. \nFernandes' tough talk came as President Bush urged restraint between India and Pakistan, which has become a key ally in Washington's operations in Afghanistan, which harbors prime terror suspect Osama bin Laden. \nBush said Monday that India and Pakistan should avoid military conflict over Kashmir, because fighting there "could create issues" for the anti-terrorism campaign. \nPowell's mission was "to talk to both sides about making sure that if there are tensions, and obviously there are, that they be reduced," Bush said. \nIn Pakistan on Tuesday, Powell expressed a willingness to help Pakistan and India resolve their differences over Kashmir. He said the dispute "must be resolved in accord with the wishes of the Kashmir people." \nIn Islamabad, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, a group that wants Kashmir's independence from both India and Pakistan, said it had faxed a letter to Powell thanking him for calling for a settlement of the dispute. \nBut India criticized Powell for saying that Kashmir was at the heart of tension between the two countries. It feels Pakistan-backed terrorism is the issue. \n"We certainly do not agree with this premise," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said. "There should be no confusion between cause and effect. The present situation in Jammu and Kashmir is a consequence of state-sponsored terrorism and not its cause." \nIndia and Pakistan have fired across their frontier for decades, and the Monday night exchange would have been considered normal if not for the relative calm through most of this year. \n"I don't think we did this deliberately to muck up Colin Powell's visit," said J.N. Dixit, a former Indian foreign secretary who advises the government on defense. \nHe said, however, "It's a relevant message to the United States, that while we are receptive to your advice not to create any difficulties for Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who is supporting the U.S. plans in Afghanistan, don't take India for granted if Musharraf tries to take advantage vis-a-vis India." \nIndia accuses Musharraf, Pakistan's president, of supporting terrorism and aiding Islamic militants trying to separate Kashmir from India. Pakistan denies it supports terrorism. \nTensions mounted between the two sides after an Oct. 1 car bombing killed 40 people at the Jammu-Kashmir state legislature in Srinagar. A Pakistan-based, Jaish-e-Mohammed, group claimed responsibility, then later denied it. \nIndia and Pakistan have fought two wars over control of Kashmir since they won independence from Britain in 1947.