Indian air strikes in Kashmir took Pakistan by surprise NEW DELHI, May 26 (AFP) - Indian air strikes against Moslem rebels in Kashmir Wednesday took Pakistan by surprise as army commanders here did not use military hotlines to alert their counterparts in Islamabad, officials said. India and Pakistan had agreed in a pact in 1986 to inform each other in advance of military exercises, border flights and other security exercises in their territories to avoid misunderstanding. But the hotline between the Director-General Military Operations (DGMO) of the two nations did not ring before Indian jets took off from Srinagar to attack the cross-border guerrillas in the northern ranges of Kargil and Drass. Army and air force commanders briefing reporters here on Wednesday evaded questions on whether India informed Pakistan in advance of the planned air sorties in Kargil. "These (hotline) talks are a subsequent matter.... they can take place anytime," India's deputy DGMO Mohan Bhandari said, hinting the New Delhi-Islamabad hotline remained silent for the first time since 1986. "Here we are dealing with an exercise which is fully backed by the Pakistani army and the Inter-Services Intellgence," the military commander said. A senior defence source said that without advance notice Pakistan was in no position to alert its forward posts of the upcoming air strikes. "The time from take-off to actual bombardments was so little that it was impossible for our adversaries to learn of the attack," a top defence source here said. India said the air strikes, the first ever in Kashmir, were well within its territory of divided Kashmir. Pakistan said Wednesday it had put its forces on "high alert" after the unprecedented Indian air strikes and warned it reserved the right to "retaliate" if the situation worsened.  