Acknowledging that there has been a decline in the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir as a sequel to the deployment of the army on the borders, India has said the world now accepts that cross-border terrorism has nothing to do with the people of Kashmir.

"The visible result [after the deployment of troops] was that the president of Pakistan [Pervez Musharraf] himself said on more than one occasion that he was committed to [the] fight against terrorism..." External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said while participating in BBC World Service Hindi weekly special phone-in programme on Sunday night.

"We have sent a clear message to Pakistan and the international community that Pakistan cannot capture Jammu and Kashmir by cross-border terrorism," he said.

Sinha also made it clear that India is under no pressure from the United States to talk to Pakistan. "There is no policy that is being made under pressure from the US, whether it is strategic, foreign or economic."

It is incorrect to say India has failed to see that Pakistan is declared as a terrorist state, he said.

"All powerful nations or groupings in the world... have on many occasions during the last year and a half accepted publicly that cross-border terrorism is going on, infiltration is on and Pakistan should stop this... that it has not stopped is a different matter.

"But the understanding of the world is clear in this matter. Just a couple of days ago US Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill has spoken on this matter. Recently, the Japanese foreign minister visited India and she accepted this fact. The world accepts the fact that India has been and is a victim of cross-border terrorism, and Pakistan will have to stop it."

Admitting that Pakistan is an important ally of the US in the post-9/11 scenario, Sinha said: "Yes, Pakistan supported the US in Afghanistan, and at that time Musharraf had also promised that Pakistani soil would not be allowed to be used for any terrorist activity in Kashmir. But here he did not live up to his promise."

He said India exerted a lot of pressure on Pakistan and the international community after the attack on Parliament.

"It was the result of that pressure, which forced Musharraf to mention in his January 12 [2002] address that Pakistan will not encourage terrorist acts in Kashmir.

"It is right that Pakistan has not lived up to its promise. Here it is not important what the US says, or the EU says. It is our battle and we will win it. Support from different parts of the world is a welcome step, but the fight is ours."

Sinha also denied that India is now tilting towards the US. "It is right that India is trying to build close relations with the US, and it is being done from both sides... when two big countries of the world try to come close it is a positive step, it should not be seen as a tilt."

When a listener from Sharjah commented that the recent NRI conference in Delhi did not give any importance to those from the Gulf, Sinha said: "If somehow an impression has been created that the NRIs from the Gulf have been ignored, then it is not good."

"So far as the dual citizenship is concerned, it can only be given to the NRIs living in countries that allow dual citizenship. In the Gulf countries there is no provision for dual citizenship," Sinha said.