With a vociferous opposition demanding its resignation, Pakistan' military government faces increasing diplomatic isolation after carrying out a series of missile tests amid an already unstable situation along its borders with India.

With clouds of war overcast, and New Delhi adamant on punishing Islamabad for its alleged patronage of cross-border terrorism by extremists groups, Islamabad's decision to test fire ballistic missiles at the weekend did not go down well with its allies in the international coalition against terrorism.

Sunday's missile test, described as successful by Pakistan, involved a short-range surface-to-surface Hatf-3 (Ghaznavi) missile, and followed Saturday's testing of a medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile Hatf-V (Ghauri).

India has downplayed the tests, saying they were meant to impress a domestic audience. Bharat Karnad, one of India's top strategic analysts said the tests show that Pakistan was anxious to demonstrate its ''resolve in resisting India'' but the ''more likely result is going to be that they have depleted their missile stock''.

Washington, which along with India and other countries, was notified of the tests, has expressed its disappointment over the tests. President George Bush, while in Russia, asked that the tests be stopped and called on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to keep his word to crack down on militants who have attacked Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Similar critical reactions were communicated to Islamabad by France, Japan, Canada and Germany after the missile tests.

Many political observers say Pakistan's military rulers are caught between the devil and the deep blue see, adding that Pakistan's expectations of support from the international community on the Kashmir issue for its cooperation in the war against terror never materialised.

Testing timely

''The coalition, while clearly supporting India in the existing tense situation, is rubbing into our face what we held out to them as assurances on combating terrorism,'' said a researcher at the government-run Institute of Strategic studies in Islamabad, requesting anonymity.

Editorials in Pakistani newspapers on Sunday welcomed the missile testing as being timely to prove Pakistan's military prowess, but expressed concern at the isolation Islamabad is facing in the world as a result.

''What worries many people at this juncture is the isolation which Islamabad is currently facing. Western allies on which the military government has relied for moral and political support are putting more pressure on Islamabad than on New Delhi which had first brought its forces to the border,'' said the English language The Nation .

In fact, many of Pakistan's allies in the war against terror are even questioning the credibility of the military government's assurances that it will take steps to root out extremism. It was in this context that Japan asked Pakistan to stop infiltration from its side into the Indian-Occupied Kashmir.

Visiting European Union External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten made similar demands earlier as part of concerted international diplomatic efforts to defuse the military standoff along the 1,800 km India-Pakistan border.

About a million of the two nuclear-armed rivals' troops are ranged along the border backed by armour, missiles and their air forces.

Defied appeals

It was due to international pressure that Musharraf has assured world leaders that no militant activity will be allowed from areas under Pakistan's control. But it has defied appeals by the same leaders to stop missile testing.

Some reports suggest that Pakistan is reviewing its Kashmir policy, creating a sense of uneasiness among people, who consider Kashmir their country's inalienable part.

Musharraf's assurance in controlling what India calls cross-border terrorism followed orders to the law enforcement agencies to crush the religious extremists with firmness.

''We are taking administrative, legislative and political measures to curb extremism as part of our commitment to the objectives of war against terror. We ourselves have been a victim of terrorism and these steps are rooted as such in our domestic compulsions,'' commented a spokesperson for the country's home ministry, requesting anonymity.

Many observers believe that Pakistan's missile tests were more of an attempt to divert people's attention from the renewed crackdown against extremists that is only to be widened in the days to come, rather than intimidating its neighbour.

''While the military rulers say that they are committed to striking hard at groups fuelling extremism in Pakistan, they at the same time do not want their actions to be perceived as taken under pressure from India or for that matter any other country for fear of public reaction at home, especially when Musharraf is tasting the bitterness of opposition as never before,'' commented a leader for the Pakistan People's Party.

The rightwing religious-political parties are already blaming Musharraf for giving up the country's principled stand on Kashmir, which always distinguished between indigenous freedom struggle and ''cross-border terrorism''.

Control movements

They see the signs of this ''giving in'' in the military government's renewed resolve to curb extremist groups and giving guarantees to the United States that it will do best to control cross border movements in the northern valley of Kashmir.

''Musharraf under pressure from the United States and India seems ready to compromise on Kashmir,'' commented Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who heads the Jamaat-i-Islami, the oldest and largest religious political party.

''By using the word cross-border terrorism for freedom struggle in Kashmir, Musharraf has for the first time omitted the fine line between Kashmiris' struggle for their internationally recognised right to self determination and terrorism. This is disloyalty to the country,'' he asserts.

Through the missile tests, the military government has given a signal to the Pakistani people that their armed forces are fully prepared to fend off any threat to the country's territorial integrity.

''We do not want a war but we are not afraid of war. We are ready for war. Let no one have any misunderstanding about this,'' said Musharraf as he addressed clerics on last Saturday.