"There is no such idea," General J.J. Singh said when asked by reporters about the possibility of a ceasefire in Kashmir.

"The army is ready to help those Kashmiri youth who want to shun violence," he said.

India has more than 400,000 security personnel in Kashmir including soldiers and paramilitary units, according to estimates from defence analysts.

The troops focus most of their efforts on stopping militants from the Pakistan-controlled zone of the region from crossing the ceasefire Line of Control as well as fighting a home-grown insurgency in the Kashmir Valley.

There have been persistent calls for a truce with militants by Kashmir state politicians following progress in an 18-month old peace process between India and Pakistan.

The Indian army entered a ceasefire with militant groups in July 2000 that lasted two weeks. The army followed the aborted agreement with a unilateral halt to operations in November 2000 that lasted six months.

In November 2004, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a unilateral withdrawal of several thousand troops from Kashmir.

Pakistan and India in April resumed a bus service between the divided zones of Kashmir after a gap of nearly 60 years and have been observing a ceasefire along the Line of Control since November 2003.

As well, India last week allowed moderate separatists to visit Pakistan and its portion of Kashmir to hold talks with the militant and political leadership there.

However Singh said the army intended to retain its current strength to combat almost daily attacks by militants.

"They will be dealt with firmly," Singh said. "Our iron fist is ready for them."

His statement came as police said six Islamic militants and an Indian army soldier were killed Thursday in a bloody clash near the de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Singh said despite the thaw in relations with Islamabad over Kashmir, militants were making repeated attempts to cross into the Indian zone from the Pakistani zone.

"They (militants) are trying to infiltrate but we are continuously foiling their designs," the army chief said. "Every week there are one or two attempts. Some (militants) get killed but some pass through."

India accuses Pakistan of arming and funding Muslim rebels. Islamabad says it is doing its best to prevent infiltration of the rebels into the Indian side.

Both countries, which have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, claim the region in full.

Tens of thousands have died in Kashmir since the eruption of the insurgency against Indian rule in 1989.

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