Analysis: Delhi attack could strain alliances

Caught between the militants and the Indian army

By BBC News Online's David Chazan

In the hours following the attack on the parliament in Delhi, some Indian legislators demanded action against Pakistan of the kind taken by the United States in Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks.

Pakistan has condemned the attack and denied any involvement.

But a number of MPs are blaming Kashmiri militants, who they claim are armed and trained by Pakistan - although Pakistan says it provides only moral support.

Some Indian legislators also drew a parallel with Israel's onslaught against the Palestinians after suicide bombings.

But most Indian leaders have refrained from fiery anti-Pakistani rhetoric despite the MPs' suspicions.

Confrontations like these are commonplace in Kashmir

South Asia analyst Iftikhar Malik says the Indian authorities are unlikely to take military action against Pakistan, which denies giving the militants anything but moral support.

One reason, he told BBC News Online, is Pakistan's current close ties with the United States - a relationship India views as potentially threatening.

'US support key'

"India would not be prepared to make a big attack on Pakistan without American support," Dr Malik said.

"They would like the same kind of military and political support that America has given to Israel, but the Americans won't give that to India."

From the beginning of the US-led campaign against terrorism, India has tried to present itself as a front-line state threatened by terror groups in Kashmir.

"India would like to present itself as a kind of Israel in South Asia," Dr Malik said.

It used to be a peaceful tourist haunt

India alleges that Pakistan has nurtured both Kashmiri separatists and the Taleban regime in Afghanistan which supported al-Qaeda.

India and Pakistan - both nuclear powers - have fought two wars over Kashmir since independence, and came to the brink of a third war in 1999.

New friction over Afghanistan

Pakistan meanwhile views the Northern Alliance - prominently represented in Afghanistan's new interim government - as a pro-Indian group.

Abdullah Abdullah, the Northern Alliance's foreign minister who is visiting Delhi, held talks with the Indian prime minister a few hours after the attack.

Although Afghanistan is now at the centre of international attention, disputed Kashmir - which has fuelled tension between India and Pakistan for more than 50 years - is less than a day's drive from the Afghan border.

Indian security officials allege that some of the Islamic militants who have been active in Afghanistan have also carried out operations in Kashmir.

A summit between the leaders of Pakistan and India earlier this year collapsed amid disagreement over Kashmir.