The considerable hardening of position is a clear departure from the exoneration of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by Defence Minister George Fernandes some days ago. It is aimed not only at setting the tone of the dialogue with Aziz, but also at sending a message to Islamabad that ``there is no failure of nerve'' in New Delhi.

Speaking to The Indian Express, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said: ``This action (of infiltration) has been engineered by, and has the support of, the government of Pakistan.''

He added: ``This is clearly an armed intrusion amounting to aggression. No amount of specious argument (from Pakistan) that the infiltrators are Mujahideen, etc., will wash. The nature of the intruders, the type of weaponry, theplanning preceding it and the support that continues to be provided, establishes beyond any doubt the role and hand of the Pakistani regular forces.''

The Government's carrot-and-stick strategy, on the one hand accepting Aziz and on the other publicly stating today that the armed operations would continue before and during the Pakistani visit, in fact until ``the restoration of status quo ante'' (i.e. both sides must return to their original positions on either side of the LoC), seems to have been considerably bolstered by the support of the international community.

Authoritative sources said the Pakistanis, now on the defensive, have been ``begging and pleading'' that Aziz should be received in New Delhi. They said the big powers had ``clearly spelt out the parameters to Pakistan, that India has every right to reverse the aggression.''

Significantly, the Government hopes, enough pressure by the Americans on Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to withdraw the infiltrators would save New Delhi theconsiderable cost of continuing this undeclared war over the next few months.

``We wish to emphasise during the visit, which is at their request,'' said Singh,``that the LoC stands violated by them. This enjoins upon India to take every action to clear the intrusion. This, along with the sense of outrage the nation feels, has to be communicated first-hand,'' he added.

Clearly, it has also crossed the Government's mind that it would only gain in international stature if it appears to be reasonable, and that it may even convert the Aziz visit into a propaganda coup. That is why, highly placed sources said, it took the government two whole days to decide to accept Aziz, overriding even the MEA's recommendation.

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and the French foreign office are said to have ``unequivocally'' told Singh that they accept that the infiltrators have been pushed into India from Pakistan. That the crisis must be``resolved bilaterally and that a UN initiative cannot be encouraged.''

Even China, which has so far only made a neutral statement at the UN in New York advising restraint and caution on both sides, has now invited Singh to Beijing. It is likely that the visit, given the developing bilateral situation, could take place around the middle of June.

Meanwhile, Indian troops, backed by air strikes for the sixth day, made significant gains by closing in on concentrations of heavily armed infiltrators.

Maj Gen J J Singh told reporters that the infiltrators had abandoned two key positions in the Mushkoh sub-sector last night and efforts were now on to encircle their other positions to stop reinforcements from reaching them.

Indian air force combat jets continued their strikes last night and today causing heavy damage to positions in high mountainous ridges being held by the infiltrators.

Air Vice Marshal S K Malik denied reports that French-made Mirage-200 warplanes had been used for the strikes in theKargil sector. Defence sources said they were used only for reconnaissance and electronic jamming roles.

Singh said infiltrators were still holding five position in Batalik and three in Drass and certain other areas spread over the Mushkoh valley.

The Indian troops foiled a Pakistani bid to capture a forward border outpost in Nowshera area of Rajouri sector killing four of their soldiers. Intermittent mortar shelling and artillery firing was continuing along the line of control in Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu sectors, official sources in Jammu said.

Earlier, bodies of four IAF personnel, who were killed on Friday when their helicopter was down by a Stinger missile fired by the intruders in Drass, were today cremated at the Sarsawa air base in Uttar Pradesh with full military honours.

The Indian mission in Islamabad sent a birthday cake for captive pilot Flt Lt. K Nachiketa who turned 26 yesterday and demanded that its air attache be allowed to meet him and he should be set free without loss oftime.

The Cabinet Committee on Security met here under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Vajpayee this evening and reviewed the situation in Kargil. Among others who attended the meeting were Defence Minister George Fernandes and Home Minister L K Advani.