May 27, 1999
Web posted at: 2:59 a.m. EDT (0659 GMT)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan on Thursday reiterated its call for an increased U.N. role in Kashmir after Indian air strikes there and said it would not escalate the conflict as long its positions were not attacked.

"We have been saying that the United Nations and the secretary-general should intervene because this is a threat to peace and regional stability," Information Minister Mushahid Hussain told Reuters.

Hussain also said he felt the Indian attacks on militants operating in Indian-controlled Kashmir were the result of domestic Indian politics.

"We certainly want to defuse tension and we hope that India, which started this whole thing, will stop it in the interest of peace and stability in South Asia," Hussain said.

"We want to take all steps to defuse the situation which the Indians have unfortunately created."

Hussain called Kashmir "a nuclear flashpoint." The latest tensions come one day before Pakistan marks the first anniversary of its successful nuclear tests and two weeks after the first anniversary of India's nuclear tests.

He said Pakistan would not escalate the conflict as long as India did not cross the line of control which separates the rivals in the Himalayan region.

"Not from Pakistan's side, but we hope that the Indians will not cross a certain line, and that means Pakistan's territorial integrity will not be threatened," he said.

Hussain said he thought one reason for the air strikes was India's domestic politics. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee rules over a weak caretaker government.

"I would say that the hawks in the Indian establishment want to take advantage of India's internal political instability and use that for both election purposes and to divert attention away from India's serious and grave political crisis," Hussain said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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