India urges Pakistan to do more to snub attacks

The groups, fighting Indian rule in the disputed region of Kashmir, are also increasingly focusing on targets outside the rebellion-wracked territory.

M.K. Narayanan's remarks come in the wake of resurgent violence in Kashmir, several arms and explosives hauls around the commercial hub of Mumbai and a foiled attack by Kashmiri militants on the headquarters of a powerful Hindu nationalist group last week.

"I think the scale of attacks, more particularly the attacks that are taking place outside Jammu and Kashmir, has gone up very substantially," Narayanan told TV channel Times Now in an interview.

"The targets are becoming extremely high profile, targets which if they do succeed (in hitting) could lead to major violence across the country," he said, without elaborating.

"Far from militancy having come down I think it is on the increase."

The Himalayan region of Kashmir is at the heart of nearly 60 years of enmity between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan and the cause of two of their three wars.

Both countries claim the region in full but rule it in parts. A separatist revolt against Indian rule in the region has killed tens of thousands of people since 1989.

After coming close to fighting their fourth war in 2002, New Delhi and Islamabad launched new moves to make peace, but the process has moved sluggishly and often been threatened with a spike in militant attacks in India.

Narayanan said Islamabad needed to do more to curb terrorism on Indian soil, saying New Delhi was facing a situation that was "far from comfortable". Pakistan denies supporting militants who cross into India to carry out attacks.

"I think Pakistan certainly could do much more to check terrorism, much of which is emanating from across the border," Narayanan added.

He said militant attacks were no longer limited to Kashmir and their targets were becoming "extremely high-profile".

Kashmiri militants waging an insurgency in Kashmir are almost always the first suspects in most terror attacks in the country. A series of bombings in the holy Varanasi city claimed nearly two dozen lives this year.

Suspected Kashmiri rebels also killed 34 Hindus in Indian Kashmir in May.