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The rapprochement between India and Pakistan, which began in 2003 after they came close to fighting a fourth war, may be set back as relations deteriorate after the July 11 bomb blasts that killed 182 people in Mumbai.

India two days ago indefinitely postponed talks this month between the foreign secretaries of the two nations, linking progress in any discussions to Pakistan ceasing support for terrorism. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said July 14 India had information that the Mumbai attacks had support from across the border, without naming Pakistan.

“The peace process has certainly been set back by several months,'' N. Bhaskara Rao, chairman of the Centre for Media Studies, a New Delhi-based policy research group, said in a telephone interview. ”With elections around the corner in Pakistan, one could see more such events like these. India needs to be prepared with stronger security.''

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947, two over control of the Himalayan territory of Kashmir split between the neighbours and claimed by both. India has been battling separatist movements in Jammu and Kashmir state and has previously accused Pakistan of backing terrorism. Pakistan says it only provides moral support for a freedom struggle.

“It is the solemn obligation of Pakistan to honour the commitment it made in January 2004 that Pakistan territory will not be utilized for promoting, aiding, affecting and encouraging terrorist acts directed against the territory of our country,''

Singh said in comments televised nationwide and made on a flight to St. Petersburg for a Group of Eight summit.

Investigators are probing the possibility that Kashmiri separatist groups may have been behind the Mumbai attacks. The government may be able to establish who was responsible for the blasts within four days, the Press Trust of India cited junior federal Home Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal as saying.

Singh said yesterday before traveling to St. Petersburg that he would ask the Group of Eight summit there to adopt a “zero-tolerance'' approach to terrorism.

“The international community must isolate and condemn terrorists wherever they attack, whatever their cause and whichever country or group provides them sustenance and support,'' Singh said in New Delhi.

China, Russia and India may explore the possibility of joint action against terrorism, Singh told reporters on the flight to St. Petersburg.

India-Pakistan relations after the Mumbai blasts were rocked after Pakistan's foreign minister purportedly linked the attacks to the lack of progress in resolving the Kashmir dispute.

India's Foreign Ministry said in a July 12 statement it was “appalling'' that Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri should seek to link ``this blatant and inhuman act of terror against innocent men, women and children to the so-called lack of resolution of disputes between India and Pakistan.'

' Kasuri denied the statement and said he had been misquoted.

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have both condemned the Mumbai attacks.

“Both sides will try to save the peace process from total breakdown and India may put some pre-conditions on Pakistan for starting the talks again,'' said Khalid Mahmud, research analyst at Institute of Region Studies in Islamabad. “It has to be seen how tough the pre-conditions are and whether Pakistan accepts them or not.'

' Suspicions about terrorist involvement are deep-rooted on both sides, with Pakistan having accused the Indian intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, of supporting similar acts. India has in turn accused its counterpart, the Inter Services Intelligence, of backing terrorism.

“Pakistan must make good its commitment of desisting from supporting terrorism,'' said Uday Bhaskar, a defense analyst based in New Delhi. “The dialogue process must continue.''

India has said it has evidence that Pakistan supported those responsible for an attack on Mumbai in 1993 that killed more than 250 people. India has sought the extradition of several people over the attack, including underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim. Pakistan said those on the list don't live in the country.

The St. Petersburg summit will provide a chance for talks between “industrialized nations and major emerging economies of the world on issues such as security, world trade, terrorism and globalization,'' Singh said in his statement.

“The G8 meeting provides an opportunity for India to present its own perspective to global leaders,'' Bhaskar said.

“Still, the US is caught in its own ambivalence with regard to Pakistan supporting terrorism directed against India.'

' Pakistan has backed the US-led war on terrorism since 2001 and is considered a key ally in that campaign, having provided support in the ousting of the Taliban regime from Afghanistan. The remnants of the Taliban and leaders of the al-Qaeda terrorist network are also considered to be hiding in the mountainous region bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Singh plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President George W. Bush, President Hu Jintao of China, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany during his trip.

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