Fernandes visited the Tanda garrison, near the town of Akhnoor in southern Kashmir, to probe a security breach that allowed three Islamic militants Tuesday to kill eight soldiers, including a brigadier, and to injure three generals.

"We will not allow fidayeens (Muslim suicide attackers) to derail the peace process. There are some who want to derail the peace process but we will not allow them the upper hand," Fernandes told reporters in the Kashmiri winter capital Jammu after visiting the garrison.

Fernandes also defended the military, saying they were powerless to prevent suicide attacks.

"Blaming the troops for a security lapse is ridiculous and incorrect," said Fernandes. "Our men killed three attackers who had come to kill and get killed.

A previously unknown group called the al-Shuhda Brigade claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack and said it was to protest the visit to India of Pakistan's radical Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party leader Fazlur Rehman.

"These attackers wanted to convey to leaders like Fazlur Rehman that his peace mission may not succeed," said Fernandes, who called the al-Shuhda Brigade a front for the pan-Islamic movement Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Lashkar is one of two groups blamed for a December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that set off 18 months of war tensions with Pakistan.

"They came from Pakistan. And we suspect the hand of Lashkar-e-Taiba behind the suicide attack even if claims are being made by hitherto unknown rebel groups," said Fernandes.

"We have been telling Pakistan to stop infiltration. We have heard from President General Pervez Musharraf saying that Islamabad does not assist infiltrators. But militant camps still exist across the border. We have been telling Islamabad to wind them down."

Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani echoed Fernandes' sentiments, telling the upper house of parliament in New Delhi that it is difficult to thwart sudden suicide attacks.

"There has been no complacency. There has been no lowering of guard," he said to answer opposition charges of negligence.

"Worldover there is a feeling of strong revulsion against terrorism. The government and the people are determined to fight it," said Advani.

In Tuesday's attack, two rebels managed to shoot dead seven soldiers before they themselves were gunned down.

When top military officers visited the site later, a third militant who had remained holed up for nearly seven hours rushed out, lobbed grenades, opened fire with an automatic weapon and then blew himself up, the defence ministry said.

The commander of the Indian army in Kashmir, Lieutenant General Hari Prasad, and two other generals were injured. Brigadier V.K. Govil died.

Tuesday's bloody raid came just hours after a grenade attack on a crowd of Hindus on their way to the shrine of Vaishnodevi near the southern town of Katra, which left seven devotees dead.

Several political parties called a general strike in Jammu to protest the sudden surge of violence, which effectively paralysed the city Wednesday.

New Delhi and Islamabad have been trying to mend fences since Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on April 18 offered a "hand of friendship" to Pakistan.

The nuclear-armed neighbours this month restored full diplomatic links and resumed a bus service after they were cut for 18 months.

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