"There is a need for the government of India to exercise restraint," a statement quoted Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi as saying.

"Pakistan is seriously concerned at the escalation of violence against Kashmiri people that has resulted in the loss of innocent lives," Qureshi said.

At least 42 people have died in weeks of unrest -- most of them killed by security forces trying to disperse angry protests against Indian rule. Each death has triggered further violent demonstrations and security crackdowns.

Qureshi expressed Pakistan's "unequivocal solidarity" with the people of Kashmir and said the country would "continue to extend its political, moral and diplomatic support to the just cause of... their right to self-determination."

Kashmir has been the cause of two of the three wars between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947. Both countries hold part of Kashmir but claim the territory in full.

Qureshi said recent statements from the United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Conference "illustrate the collective concern of the international community at the human rights violations in Indian occupied Kashmir."

Most of the recent deaths were blamed on Indian security forces trying to disperse angry protests against Indian rule.

Police said the latest victims were two young men killed on Tuesday when security forces opened fire to quell demonstrators in Srinagar, the region's main town.

The death in early June of a 17-year-old student -- killed by a police tear gas shell -- set off a series of almost daily protests in which scores of people have been killed, 25 of them since Friday.

The 20-year separatist insurgency in Indian Kashmir has claimed thousands of lives.

Indian officials say Pakistan-backed hardline separatists are behind the latest unrest, but locals say it is the spontaneous result of years of pent-up frustration and alleged abuses by police and paramilitary forces.

earlier related report
Pakistani president arrives in Britain amid terror row
London (AFP) Aug 3, 2010 - Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Britain on Tuesday for a visit clouded by a row over a British terrorism warning, and devastating floods at home.

Zardari flew in from France for the five-day British visit, set to include talks Friday with Prime Minister David Cameron -- who defended his warning hours before the Pakistani leader's arrival.

A spokeswoman confirmed he had arrived, as television pictures showed a smiling Zardari emerging from a Pakistani jet.

In comments in the French newspaper Le Monde, Zardari said he would explain why Islamabad is angry "face to face" after Cameron suggested elements in Pakistan backed "the export of terror" to its neighbours Afghanistan and India.

"The war against terrorism must unite us and not oppose us," Zardari said.

But hours before Zardari's arrival in London, Cameron stood by the comments he made during a visit to India last week. "I gave a pretty clear and frank answer to a clear and frank question," he told BBC radio.

"I don't regret that at all," he added.

As well as the diplomatic row, critics in Pakistan are angered by Zardari's decision to spend a week in Europe at a time when monsoon flooding has killed 1,500 people and affected 3.5 million more.

Some British lawmakers of Pakistani origin pulled out of a planned lunch Thursday with Zardari, saying he should be back home sorting out the country's flooding disaster.

"I'm not going to meet with the president because I believe that a head of state needs to be in his country of origin when there's a state of emergency," Lord Nazir Ahmed told AFP.

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