ISLAMABAD, June 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Pakistan Saturday strongly condemned a grenade attack on a mosque in the disputed region of Kashmir by suspected Indian-backed guerrillas and urged New Delhi to create a positive environment for a proposed Pakistan-India summit.
At least four people were killed and 50 others seriously injured when a grenade was hurled in the compound of the Charar-i-Sharif mosque where Muslim worshippers had assembled for Friday prayers.
Indian police blamed Muslim activists waging a separatist campaign in the Muslim-majority state of Kashmir, but did not identify any particular group.
Residents blamed the attack on the police and staged angry demonstrations, chanting pro-freedom slogans.
The attack is one of the worst in an upsurge in violence, which has followed the end of India's six-month so-called "unilateral ceasefire."
More than 160 people - mainly Muslim activists - have been killed and 150 injured since India called off the truce.
"The government also strongly deplores the attempt of the Indian authorities to hold Kashmiri freedom fighters responsible for this heinous act of desecration and murder," a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman said.
He said the attack was "part of a pattern of escalation in violence and terror against the Kashmiri people" since India ended its unilateral truce last month.
"This is manifested also in an upsurge in killings of civilians, including extra-judicial killings, disappearances and rape," the spokesman said in a statement.
The Indian government on May 23 ended a six-month ceasefire and said it would take whatever action it judged best against Kashmiri separatists.
Simultaneously it invited Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf for dialogue with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in New Delhi. Musharraf has accepted Vajpayee's formal invitation and a date for the summit is yet to be decided.
The spokesman called upon the Indian government "to end its repression of the Kashmiri people in order to create a positive environment for the Pakistan-India dialogue at the summit level."
The summit after a two-year freeze in dialogue, will discuss the 54-year old dispute over Kashmir, which has caused two of three wars between the rival neighbors.
War with India over the disputed northern territory of Kashmir came shortly after independence - the two countries fought again in 1965.
The predominantly Muslim Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both. Some 35,000 people have died since India started a violent crackdown against a 12-year old Muslim separatist movement in the Indian-held zone.
Human rights and separatist groups put the number at double this figure and blame it on Indian excessive use of force.
Pakistan, which controls the northern third of the Himalayan state, calls for a referendum so that Kashmiris can choose between India and Pakistan.
