NEW DELHI, July 18: Indian army officials said on Monday that a recent shootout with suspected militants near the Line of Control would not derail the India-Pakistan ceasefire amid indications that a growing Maoist insurgency across India was the more urgent issue. Both issues appeared to be in harmony with the atmosphere in Washington, where President George Bush encouraged Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to continue to improve ties with President Pervez Musharraf while joining the battle against ‘terrorism’.

Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil was quoted by news agencies as saying in the southern state of Kerala that ‘terrorist activities’ in Kashmir had declined by more than 60 per cent and by 40 to 50 per cent in the northeast, where a range of ethnic and ideological groups were active.

“Though there had been considerable improvement in the situation it did not mean that terrorist menace in the country had come to an end,” Mr Patil told trainees at the Kerala Police Academy.

“Four per cent decline in Naxalite activities in the country is, however, not very impressive,” he said.

Mr Patil asked the defence, state and paramilitary forces not to ‘lose heart’ on account of a few terrorist attacks here and there.

Modernization of military, paramilitary and police forces to equip them to meet all challenges was a continuing process, Mr Patil said.

It was also essential to apply one’s mind to the crime scenario of the modern world where ‘intellectual and ideological crimes’ could not be tackled with weapons, he added.

Mr Patil’s comments were seen as a significant departure from the Indian army’s recent position whereby it was speaking of a major escalation in ‘cross-border infiltration’.

The Press Trust of India quoted the Indian Army’s Northern Command chief Hari Prasad as saying the 20-month old ceasefire along the LoC would continue to hold.