WELLINGTON, Oct 12: New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark accused an Indian newspaper of "grossly distorting" her comments after it quoted her linking strife-torn Kashmir with nuclear friction between India and Pakistan.

Ms Clark, who will arrive in India on Sunday, gave an interview here to the Hindustan Times which said she believed the dispute in Kashmir had forced India and Pakistan to go nuclear, and could trigger a nuclear war.

She was quoted as saying "the resolution of the nuclear issue lies in the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. I think Kashmir is the flash point.... "We will tell India to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). India will always find New Zealand as the dominant voice for nuclear disarmament."

But Ms Clark said the interview as published was "a gross distortion" and said she did not tell the newspaper that New Zealand would ask India to sign CTBT.

She released a transcript of the interview in which she says: "Well as a matter of principle New Zealand likes countries to sign the limited test ban treaty and we are well known for strong advocacy of nuclear disarmament. And certainly there have been times when I've been prime minister there's been enormous concern here about the possibility of nuclear war between India and Pakistan which we find extremely distressing." -AFP