Islamabad: In a damage control exercise after angering hardliners with its statement that Kashmir was not an integral part of it, Pakistan today accused India of 'illegally occupying' the state and asked New Delhi to show flexibilty in resolving the dragging dispute.

"India's position on Kashmir issue is not legally tenable and Pakistan has a legal, moral and political edge on the long-standing dispute," Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told sources.

She accused India of "illegally occupying" Kashmir by sending its troops to the state in 1947.

"Pakistan holds that Kashmir is more than a territorial dispute and the issue should be resolved according to aspirations of Kashmiris," Aslam said told sources.

President Pervez Musharraf wanted India and Pakistan to show flexibility in resolving the Kashmir issue, she said. "When the President talks of flexibility, he talks of flexibility from both sides," she said.

Now the international community is looking towards India to show flexibility, she said.

Aslam's comment on Monday that Pakistan had never claimed Kashmir as its integral part had drawn the ire of hardline religious parties, which accused the government of making a U-turn on the issue.

"Pakistan has a strong moral, political and legal case, while India retreated from its position after accepting the UN Security Council's resolutions," she said.