WASHINGTON, June 11: India’s Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani has said India does not need external support to fight “terrorism in Kashmir.”

“India in its battle against terrorism relies on its own ability and strength to overcome it,” said Mr Advani while talking to reporters after separate meetings with US Vice-President Dick Cheney and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Tuesday.

Similarly, he said his current visit to the United States focused on “ever-broadening bilateral relations” between Washington and New Delhi and not on India’s disputes with Pakistan.

He said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had made it clear that talks with Pakistan can be meaningful only if a climate conducive to purposeful talks is created by ending cross-border infiltration and dismantling terrorist infrastructure.

Mr Advani denied that the United States was putting pressure on India to deploy peacekeeping troops in Iraq. “We will decide this matter after taking all aspects into account,” he added.

The Indian government, he said, will hear the Pentagon team coming to New Delhi next week for talks on this issue “but India is free to take any decision that it deems fit,” he told a press conference in Washington.

Responding to a question about Ayodhya, he said he favoured a compromise solution to the temple-mosque dispute.