SRINAGAR, India: Separatist leaders in Indian Kashmir condemned on Thursday the arrest of a man accused of acting as a Pakistani government agent in the United States.

Ghulam Nabi Fai, 62, a US citizen, is suspected of links to a decades-long effort that allegedly funnelled millions of dollars to Washington to lobby US politicians on behalf of Kashmiri causes.

The US Justice Department said that Fai and Zaheer Ahmad, 63, a US citizen and resident of Pakistan, faced five years in prison if found guilty.

Muslim-majority Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan, with the Indian-administered sector hit by a violent 20-year insurgency against rule from New Delhi.

“It is unfortunate that a leader like Fai is being dubbed an agent. He has been representing Kashmiris at various forums to make the world hear our views,” said Shabir Shah, a senior separatist in Kashmir.

“We strongly condemn his arrest. It is aimed at suppressing the voices who call for Kashmir's freedom from India,” Shah told AFP.

The allegations, which come amid increasingly strained ties between the United States and Pakistan, centre on the Kashmiri American Council (KAC), a Washington-based group founded in 1990.

The KAC is suspected of being run by Pakistan's powerful military intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI).

Shah said the centre worked to “highlight Indian oppression in Kashmir” where more than 110 protesters were shot dead by police last year to quell independence protests.

Hardline Kashmiri separatist Syed Ali Geelani said Fai's arrest was unjustified.

“It has been done at the behest of India and under a conspiracy to weaken the movement of Kashmiris at the diplomatic level,” he said.

Kashmir leaders said they were unaware of the identity of Zaheer Ahmad, the second suspect arrested in the US with Fai.