Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his speech on India's 62nd Independence Day said a suicide bombing last month on the Indian embassy in Kabul had 'cast a shadow over our efforts to normalise ties with Pakistan'.

New Delhi has blamed the bombing, which killed scores of people including two Indian diplomats, on Pakistan's military intelligence agency, the ISI.

Mr Singh, standing behind a bullet-proof glass shield at New Delhi's ancient Red Fort, said he had personally conveyed his 'concern and disappointment to the government of Pakistan'.

'If this issue of terrorism is not addressed, all good intentions that we have for our two peoples to live in peace and harmony will be negated', he said.

India accuses Pakistan of supporting an Islamic insurgency in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, the trigger for two of the three wars between the nations since their independence from British rule in 1947.

New Delhi also accuses Islamabad of involvement in bomb blasts that regularly strike Indian cities. -- AFP