Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday rejected Pakistan's accusation that New Delhi was sabotaging peace talks with Islamabad.
In her speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, Swaraj accused Pakistan of harboring and aiding terrorists.
"In our case, terrorism is bred not in some faraway land, but across our border to the west," Swaraj said. "Our neighbor's expertise is not restricted to spawning grounds for terrorism; it is also an expert in trying to mask malevolence with verbal duplicity," she added.
Indian foreign minister said that Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, "still roams the streets of Pakistan with impunity."
Read more: What is Pakistan's militancy issue all about?
Dispute over Kashmir
Last week, India canceled a proposed UNGA meeting between Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mahmood Qureshi. The move was sharply criticized by Islamabad, which accused Indian authorities of sabotaging regional peace.
The Indian Foreign Ministry said it cancelled the talks following the "latest brutal killings of our security personnel by Pakistan-based entities" in Kashmir, and the release of a series of Pakistani postage stamps "glorifying a terrorist and terrorism."
"We accepted the [talks] proposal," Swaraj said. "But within hours of our acceptance, news came that terrorists had killed one of our jawans (troops). Does this indicate a desire for dialogue?"
Kashmir remains a major bone of contention between the two South Asian nuclear-armed states.
For his part, Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi, who also addressed the UNGA on Saturday, said the new government headed by cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan "is keen to pursue a policy of partnership for peace, security and prosperity in our immediate neighborhood and beyond."
Read more: Imran Khan: A new hope or divisive force for Pakistan?
Qureshi, however, insisted that "the unresolved Jammu and Kashmir dispute hinders the realization of the goal of a durable peace between our two countries."
Since 1989, Muslim insurgents have been fighting Indian forces in India-administered Kashmir — a region of 12 million people, about 70 percent of whom are Muslim. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Kashmir, which they both claim in full, but rule in part.
Read more: Why Kashmir is still reeling from rebel Burhan Wani's death
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India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price
An unprecedented danger?
On February 27, Pakistan's military said that it had shot down two Indian fighter jets over disputed Kashmir. A Pakistani military spokesman said the jets were shot down after they'd entered Pakistani airspace. It is the first time in history that two nuclear-armed powers have conducted air strikes against each other.
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India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price
India drops bombs inside Pakistan
The Pakistani military has released this image to show that Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistani territory for the first time since the countries went to war in 1971. India said the air strike was in response to a recent suicide attack on Indian troops based in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan said there were no casualties and that its airforce repelled India's aircraft.
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India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price
No military solution
Some Indian civil society members believe New Delhi cannot exonerate itself from responsibility by accusing Islamabad of creating unrest in the Kashmir valley. A number of rights organizations demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government reduce the number of troops in Kashmir and let the people decide their fate.
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India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price
No end to the violence
On February 14, at least 41 Indian paramilitary police were killed in a suicide bombing near the capital of India-administered Kashmir. The Pakistan-based Jihadi group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed responsibility. The attack, the worst on Indian troops since the insurgency in Kashmir began in 1989, spiked tensions and triggered fears of an armed confrontation between the two nuclear-armed powers.
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India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price
A bitter conflict
Since 1989, Muslim insurgents have been fighting Indian forces in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir - a region of 12 million people, about 70 percent of whom are Muslim. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.
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India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price
India strikes down a militant rebellion
In October 2016, the Indian military has launched an offensive against armed rebels in Kashmir, surrounding at least 20 villages in Shopian district. New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing the militants, who cross over the Pakistani-Indian "Line of Control" and launch attacks on India's paramilitary forces.
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India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price
Death of a Kashmiri separatist
The security situation in the Indian part of Kashmir deteriorated after the killing of Burhan Wani, a young separatist leader, in July 2016. Protests against Indian rule and clashes between separatists and soldiers have claimed hundreds of lives since then.
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India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price
The Uri attack
In September 2016, Islamist militants killed at least 17 Indian soldiers and wounded 30 in India-administered Kashmir. The Indian army said the rebels had infiltrated the Indian part of Kashmir from Pakistan, with initial investigations suggesting that the militants belonged to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad group, which has been active in Kashmir for over a decade.
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India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price
Rights violations
Indian authorities banned a number of social media websites in Kashmir after video clips showing troops committing grave human rights violations went viral on the Internet. One such video that showed a Kashmiri protester tied to an Indian army jeep — apparently as a human shield — generated outrage on social media.
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India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price
Demilitarization of Kashmir
Those in favor of an independent Kashmir want Pakistan and India to step aside and let the Kashmiri people decide their future. "It is time India and Pakistan announce the timetable for withdrawal of their forces from the portions they control and hold an internationally supervised referendum," Toqeer Gilani, the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front in Pakistani Kashmir, told DW.
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India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price
No chance for secession
But most Kashmir observers don't see it happening in the near future. They say that while the Indian strategy to deal strictly with militants and separatists in Kashmir has partly worked out, sooner or later New Delhi will have to find a political solution to the crisis. Secession, they say, does not stand a chance.
Author: Shamil Shams
How Kashmir complicates peace talks
Analysts say that Qureshi's UNGA speech is proof that the new Pakistani government has not changed its policies towards India and Kashmir. They also say that Pakistan cannot win India's trust on peace while glorifying Kashmiri militants.
Siegfried O. Wolf, director of research at the Brussels-based South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF), says that Islamabad needs to separate the Kashmir dispute from the peace talks if it wants productive dialogue with its neighbor.
"Pakistan's involvement in the Kashmir conflict will always complicate the issue, as Islamabad's international reputation as an alleged Islamist hub is counterproductive for the Kashmir plight," Wolf told DW.
"But Pakistani authorities think that if India gets militarily involved in the Kashmir conflict, it will have a negative impact on India's economic growth and international repute. Also, India's rights violations in Kashmir helps the Pakistani military to justify its dominance inside Pakistan," Wolf said.
The Trump administration has also increased pressure on Pakistan to act against jihadist groups that are active on its soil. The US has stopped much of its military aid to the Islamic country.
Peace activists in India and Pakistan urge their governments to restart peace talks and bury the hatchet. They say the dispute over Kashmir and terrorism has held back the progress of the two countries for decades.
