LUCKNOW, India -- Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Friday pledged to help neighboring Nepal in its fight against Maoist rebels as Nepalese King Gyanendra closed a six-day visit to India.

"We do not believe in the revolutionary ideals of the Maoists in Nepal. We will not allow terrorism to spread in any country," Vajpayee told a news conference in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow.

"We have sent some police support to Nepal. If need be, we will continue to support them," he added.

However, Vajpayee said that the problem was an internal matter of Nepal and therefore must be solved by its government.

On Wednesday, Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes at a meeting with Gyanendra agreed to Nepal's request for helicopters, utility vehicles and mine-proof combat vehicles to fight the rebels, a defense spokesman told AFP.

Under a decades-old treaty India is the chief supplier of military hardware to Nepal, which is in the throes of the six-year Maoist rebellion that has cost more than 4,300 lives.

The kingdom is badly in need of equipment, as its army has only nine combat-capable helicopters.

Gyanendra began his six-day state visit as Nepal ended official mourning for his brother king Birendra, who died with nine other members of the royal family on June 1, 2001 in a massacre carried out by the drunken crown prince.

On Friday, the Nepalese King was in the eastern city of Calcutta where he prayed at the revered Kalighat Temple and offered a goat as a sacrifice for the Hindu goddess.

"Together with Queen Komal Rajya Laxmi, the king touched the feet of the goddess Kali to seek her blessings and prayed for peace and prosperity of the Himalayan kingdom," priest Kamal Mukherjee, who escorted the king to the temple, told AFP.

A similar animal sacrifice ordered by the king in the northeastern state of Assam on Thursday sparked bitter criticism from animal rights activists, who stressed that the ritualistic slaughter of animals is banned under Indian law.

A priest affiliated with Nepal's ruling family, Ramprasad Gautam, slaughtered the goat Friday at the Kalighat Temple after the king's departure.

"As a Hindu king, Gyanendra has offered prayers by sacrificing an animal to the goddess Kali. We find nothing wrong despite the row by animal rights groups," said Gautam, who is a priest at Nepal's most celebrated temple, Pashupati.

Gyanendra was due to return home later Friday.