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UNITED NATIONS, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Pakistan will use its new seat on the U.N. Security Council, which it joins in January for a two-year term, to press for a solution to disputed Kashmir, Pakistan's U.N. envoy said on Tuesday.

While the council's mandate is to maintain international peace and security, it has long steered clear of Kashmir, where nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan have been at the brink of war over attacks on Indian rule by Islamic militants.

"Of course we don't have rose-colored glasses, but at the same time we cannot turn a blind eye to the security threat on our doorstep," Ambassador Munir Akram told Reuters.

"How far we could go would be uncertain. We can expect friends of India to stand in the way, but we should not rule out that the council could be helpful," Akram said in an interview.

The 15-nation council dealt with Kashmir in a resolution in 1949 but has not returned to the matter out of deference to the differing views of India, which does not want international intervention, and Pakistan, which actively seeks an international role.

A number of U.N. secretaries-general have offered their help in resolving the crisis if both parties asked for assistance. But so far the offer has not been taken up.

The 13-year battle against Indian rule in Kashmir is one of the world's bloodiest. India says more than 35,000 people have died in the revolt, while separatists put the death toll above 80,000.

India and Pakistan massed more than a million troops on their border after an attack on the Indian parliament last December. Tensions eased after intense diplomatic efforts, but war fears have not entirely receded.

Mainly Hindu India accuses mainly Muslim Pakistan of backing rebels fighting its rule in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only state with a Muslim majority.

Pakistan, which wants a referendum on independence for the people of Kashmir, denies the charge but has vowed to stop rebels slipping across the border into India.

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