IAMMU (India) - INDIAN police said on Tuesday they had foiled a major suicide strike in Indian-controlled Kashmir with the arrest of three Islamist militants, including a Pakistani soldier.

Under interrogation, the militants said they had been planning to drive a truck laden with explosives into a 'vital installation,' Jammu and Kashmir police chief Kuldeep Khuda said.

The three were waiting for delivery of the explosives and confirmation of the intended target when they were arrested, Khuda said.

The arrests came amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the attacks in Mumbai, which New Delhi has blamed on a Pakistan-based militant group.

Mr Khuda said the three suspects were all members of Jaish-e-Mohammad - one of the main rebel outfits fighting Indian rule in the disputed Kashmir region.

They all received training in Pakistan, Mr Khuda said, adding that one of the men, identified as Ghulam Fareed, was a soldier with the Azad Kashmir (Free Kashmir) regiment of the Pakistan army.

'These three had come to Jammu and they were to meet a guide, who was to come from the Kashmir Valley and provide them weapons for specific targeting,' he said.

Mr Kashmir is in the grip of a nearly two-decade old insurgency against Indian rule that has left more than 47,000 people dead, according to official Indian figures.

The Himalayan region is divided into Indian and Pakistan-controlled zones and has been the trigger for two wars between the South Asian rivals since independence from Britain in 1947.

The Mumbai attacks in which 172 people were killed - including nine militant gunmen - have been blamed on the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, which is also fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. -- AFP