Islamabad, Sep 19 (IANS): The killing of 17 soldiers by militants in Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi's reaction have taken Pakistan-India relations to an "unstable phase", a Pakistani daily said on Monday.

The Dawn described as "a highly volatile environment" Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh's branding of Pakistan as a "terrorist state" in the wake of the Friday attack on an army camp in Uri.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also declared that the masterminds of the attack would be punished.

The Dawn said the deadly attack and the Indian authorities' accusations against Pakistan have taken "Pakistan-India relations into a dangerous and unstable new phase". 

The Indian military said the four gunmen who carried out the attack were "foreigners".

With Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif set to address the UN General Assembly this week, the Uri attack could catapult the Kashmir dispute to the forefront of global issues to be discussed in New York, the Dawn said.

"The war of words, at least from the Indian side, will not abate in the days ahead. 

"India's automatic blaming of Pakistan for major violence in that country is very much a part of the problem," the daily said.