Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad telephoned his Indian counterpart Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday and discussed New Delhi's current military standoff with Islamabad, an Indian foreign ministry statement said.

During the 10 minute conversation, "Prime Minister Vajpayee stressed that while India was not for military confrontation with Pakistan, the country was determined to resist cross-border terrorism ... with resoluteness and determination," the statement said.

Malaysia is one of the countries to which Pakistan recently dispatched an envoy to present its point of view on the military standoff with India.

India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring an Islamic insurgency in Indian-adminstered Kashmir, which has claimed 35,000 lives since it first broke out in 1989.

Pakistan denies the charge, but admits to extending moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people.

Infiltration of Islamic militants into Indian-Kashmir is at the heart of the current dangerous military stand-off between India and Pakistan, which has seen both sides mobilise about one million troops on their common borders and edge to the brink of war late last month.

Pledges

Tensions cooled slightly after Pakistan promised to put a permanent end to the flow of militants into Kashmir.

On Thursday, Vajpayee told Mahathir that "India (awaits) Pakistan's implementation of these pledges and promises through concrete, visible and permanent action on the ground," the foreign ministry release said.

"The conversation provided a useful opportunity for conveying to the Malaysian Prime Minister India's clear and consistent position ... and its unflinching determination to seek a permanent end to cross-border terrorism," the statement added.