Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said Saturday he was concerned by Indian military exercises near the border but played down fears of escalating tensions between the nuclear rivals.

"I do not think at the moment there is a likelihood of a serious threat but I would like to say that we are watching, so we are concerned because of the capabilities that they have for any kind of adventurism," Musharraf told a news conference.

India began the military exercises with thousands of combat troops near the border with Pakistan on Thursday.

An Indian army spokesman told AFP the army would conduct the

exercises with support from the air force in Rajasthan's Thar Desert but would remain 90 to 150 km from the Pakistani border.

"The war games should end on May 15 and will test some of the army units which have been deployed along the border with Pakistan since December last year," said the spokesman.

Tensions between the two South Asian states, which have fought three wars since independence in 1947, were sent spiralling on December 13, when Islamic militants allegedly linked to Pakistan attacked the Indian parliament, leaving 14 people dead.

Since then, both India and Pakistan have deployed nearly one million troops along their shared

border.

Indian defence ministry sources confirmed New Delhi had given advance notice to Islamabad about the war games.

"These military exercises normally take place at this time of the year in Rajasthan. We inform them routinely as we conduct these operations," said a defence source.

Under a 1991 agreement between the two countries, each side is required to give advance notice to the other of all exercises within a distance of 75 km from the border.

A previous exercise in Rajasthan in 1987, codenamed "Operation Brasstacks", drew India and Pakistan dangerously close to war.