India says dialogue under stress

The embassy attack was the deadliest in Kabul since the fall of the Taleban

India says its peace process with Pakistan is under stress following this month's suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.

Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said "recent events" had spoiled the atmosphere between the two countries.

He repeated India's allegation that "elements of Pakistan" were behind the Kabul attack, a charge Pakistan denies.

He was speaking to journalists in Delhi after talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Salman Bashir.

The talks were the latest round of talks that are part of a peace process which began in 2004.

Mr Bashir arrived in India on Sunday for the talks, which were expected to focus on various bilateral issues, including confidence-building measures in the disputed region of Kashmir.

"All our information points to elements of Pakistan being behind the blast," Mr Menon said.

More than 40 people were killed in the attack, the deadliest in Kabul since the overthrow of the Taleban in 2001.

He warned that "the dialogue process is under stress". However, Mr Menon said it was "important that the dialogue continue in order to address our concerns".

Fragile

The biggest disagreement between the two countries is over Kashmir, which both countries claim as their own.

The wreckage from Saturday's attack in Kashmir

On Saturday at least nine soldiers were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir in an explosion triggered by suspected separatist militants, police said.

A bus carrying the troops was caught in the blast close to the summer capital, Srinagar.

The Hizbul Mujahideen militant group said it carried out the attack.

Violence in Indian-controlled Kashmir has reduced markedly since a 2003 ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

But analysts say that recent firing incidents across the Line of Control and rare allegations of ceasefire breaches underline how fragile the peace is.