NEW DELHI, Nov 2: Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony said on Friday that New Delhi was trying to find amicable solutions to its problems with Pakistan and China and that confrontation in any case was not the answer.

“With Pakistan and China we do not want any confrontation and we are trying to find a solution amicably, but problems are there,” Mr Antony told reporters in the southern Indian city of Cochin.

He was quoted by Press Trust of India as saying that violence level had come down in Jammu and Kashmir by 50 per cent over the previous year.

The only concern now was of cross-border militancy which was continuing even after three years of ceasefire. “Terrorists and militants are coming from across the border and they are getting support from them,” he said.

Mr Antony’s comments were seen as a rejoinder to communist leader Prakash Karat’s warning on Thursday that India should not step in as a strategic partner of the United States in lieu of Islamabad.

“We shall not rest in our fight till the strategic ties with the US are snapped out,” Mr Karat said.