Kashmir Conflict at a New Pitch

Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan exchanged fire across their border in Kashmir on Monday, and the military in India reportedly took control of the country’s paramilitary forces and merchant marine in a sign of building tension over the disputed Himalayan region.

Each side in the simmering conflict sought to bring international pressure to bear on the other. India said it asked for foreign help in isolating Pakistan, which requested international assistance in starting talks to settle the dispute.

The Bush administration announced plans to send Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to the region. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the administration was “strongly concerned” about the situation.

India has refused to negotiate until Pakistan stops its alleged support for Islamic militants who have launched attacks on the Indian side of the border in Kashmir. Pakistan denies backing the militants but does support the goal of separating the Indian portion of mainly Muslim Kashmir from Hindu India.

The two nations have sent a total of about 1 million soldiers to their frontier as the dispute flared anew over Kashmir, which has provoked two wars between India and Pakistan since their independence from Britain in 1947.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on both sides “to exercise maximum restraint to avert a further escalation of tensions,” U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said in New York.

He said Annan also was “very concerned” at the high level of casualties.