"An army of the size of India does not require to brag about its capabilities; these are well-known to the military analysts," said the official from the Pakistani military's Inter-Services Public Relations who did not want to be named.

On Wednesday, officials in New Delhi said India's top military strike force backed by aircraft were practicing war games aimed at slicing Pakistan in half in the event of actual war.

An Indian commander had told AFP: "This will put to test our 2004 war doctrine to dismember a not-so-friendly nation effectively and at the shortest possible time, but since my statement is not politically friendly I would not like to be identified."

The three-week exercises involving 40,000 Indian soldiers are being held near the Pakistan border and will end on May 19.

The Pakistani official noted that such war games were routine and said Pakistan also conducts such exercises periodically.

"Pakistan's military strategy is based on defensive deterrence and it has the capability to blunt enemy offensives," the official said. "This is what would deter any aggressor from undertaking misadventure or aggression against Pakistan."

However, he hit back at the Indian commander's comments.

"These statements can best be termed as a psychological effort to boost the sagging morale of Indian army that has gone probably so low fighting internal strife and separatist movements," the official said.

Pakistan and India went to war in 1947, 1965 and 1971.

The neighbors conducted tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests in 1998 and four years later came dangerously close to a fourth war when India blamed Pakistan for an armed attack on its parliament by Muslim gunmen.

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