Indian minister accuses Pakistan of \\\'destabilising\\\' India

NEW DELHI, Nov 29 (agencies): India's home affairs minister on Saturday accused Pakistani "state actors" of attempting to destabilise India, reiterating an accusation commonly levelled by the South Asian giant at its northern Muslim neighbour.

Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh told a security conference in India's northeast that Pakistan was still supporting militants fighting New Delhi's rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir.

Singh pointed to a guerrilla attack earlier this week on an army patrol in Indian-administered Kashmir in which at least 10 people were killed.

"It is unfortunate Pakistan does not mend its ways," Singh said, singling out Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence as one of the "state actors" seeking to roil India's security.

"I do not hesitate in saying Pakistani state actors have a role in destabilising India," Singh said, repeating a longstanding Indian demand that Pakistan rein in Islamic militants.

Singh's remarks come on the heels of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)summit held earlier this week in Nepal that was overshadowed by India and Pakistan's rivalry and ended with little progress towards regional integration.

Muslim-majority Kashmir has been a flashpoint in relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours, which have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain over the picturesque region.

The divided Kashmir region is held in part by Pakistan and India, but claimed in full by both.

Since 1989 about a dozen rebel groups, seeking independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan, have been fighting Indian forces-a battle that has left tens of thousands of people dead, most of them civilians.

Indian politicians have called the recent militant attack in Kashmir, which came as the state is engaged in elections, a deliberate attempt to upset relations between India and Pakistan.