British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned Pakistan not to have anything to do with groups that "promote the export of terror".
He said that he would raise the issue with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at talks in Delhi on Thursday.
Mr Cameron's spokeswoman insisted he was talking about Pakistan as a country, not its government.
She said that the main message was for Pakistan to shut "terror groups" down.
After a speech in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, Mr Cameron told reporters: "We should be very, very clear with Pakistan that we want to see a strong, stable and democratic Pakistan."
"We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror, whether to India or whether to Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world."
The BBC reports the remarks followed the leaking of United States documents on the Wikileaks website in which Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency was accused of secretly helping the Afghan insurgency.
But Pakistan's high commissioner to Britain has accused Mr Cameron of damaging the prospects of regional peace with his warning.
The row comes as Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is preparing to visit Britain next week.
