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NEW DELHI, May 11 (Reuters) - India says its esteem in the world has grown after it conducted nuclear tests four years ago and refused to buckle under pressure from the international community, the ruling federal coalition said on the anniversary of the tests on Saturday .

"India's esteem has gone up in the international world following the government's efforts," a resolution from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) said.

"In the last four years, the country has faced several challenges to its security but the government has overcome them with strength," it said.

The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Four years ago India stunned the world by conducting nuclear tests at Pokhran in the north western state of Rajasthan, prompting Pakistan to conduct its own tests within a month.

The tests led to widespread consternation and triggered fears of a nuclear confrontation in the sub-continent.

Several developed countries including the United States and Japan imposed sanctions, many of which have since been lifted.

India and Pakistan have massed closed to a million troops on both sides of the India-Pakistan border for nearly four months now, in a crisis provoked by an attack on the Indian parliament, blamed on Pakistan-based rebel groups operating in disputed Kashmir.

The military confrontation shows no signs of abating, deepening concerns of a miscalculation or an accident that could escalate into the world's first nuclear exchange. 

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