ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

President Pervez Musharraf today warned India against treating his country like "scum" and called for a UN role in de-escalating military tensions which have left the South Asian nuclear rivals on a war-footing.

In an interview with the Hindu newspaper, Musharraf blamed Indian intransigence for the continued border face-off and confessed he could see no way out of the impasse. Musharraf slammed India's attitude as "offensive" and said Pakistan would never accept being treated "like dirt, as if we are some kind of scum, a very weak country, which cannot handle itself."

Musharraf also called for a UN force to be deployed on the disputed Indo-Pakistan border in Kashmir to determine the validity of India's claims that Islamabad was continuing to sponsor cross-border terrorism.