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NEW DELHI, June 24 (Reuters) - India told Pakistan on Monday it must make good on its pledge to stop cross-border militancy after a U.S. magazine quoted its military leader as saying he could not promise a permanent halt.

These comments are "verbal calisthenics" by General Pervez Musharraf, Indian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao told reporters. "Pakistan has committed itself to fighting terrorism. This is an unambiguous and clear commitment."

Nuclear-capable India and Pakistan recently came close to all-out war over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. Tensions eased following intense U.S.-led diplomatic efforts but India has refused to pull its troops back from the border until it says it sees a permanent halt to militant infiltration.

Both countries, which have been at war with each other three times -- twice over Kashmir -- have massed a million men along the border since a December attack on the Indian parliament that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-backed militants.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who led the recent peacemaking drive, telephoned Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh on Monday to discuss the situation in the region, Rao added.

President Musharraf was quoted in the July 1 edition of the U.S. magazine Newsweek as saying he never said he would permanently end infiltration by Islamic militants fighting New Delhi's rule in Indian Kashmir.

"I've told President (George W.) Bush nothing is happening across the Line of Control (LoC)...I'm not going to give you an assurance that for years nothing will happen," he told Newsweek. The LoC is a ceasefire line dividing the Indian and Pakistani armies in Kashmir.

Musharraf also was quoted as saying he "didn't talk about" dismantling militant training camps in Pakistani Kashmir when U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage made a peace mission to South Asia recently.

India has said it wants Islamabad to close down training camps for Kashmiri militants in Pakistan-administered Kashmir before holding talks with Pakistan over the divided region.

Rao said Musharraf's commitments to end infiltration "have been conveyed to us at the highest level during the visits of Armitage and (U.S. Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld".

Musharraf had to "end the infrastructure of terrorism -- to pull the plumbing out", she said, referring to the camps.

Defence Minister George Fernandes said last week infiltration had nearly ended but Rao said it would still take some time to see if there was a definite trend, noting that July was traditionally a month when militant incursions were high.

"Let us see how the situation develops," she said. "If Pakistan is unable to fulfil its pledges, we will have to take a closer look at what has to be done and where we will go from here." 

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