India extends Kashmir ceasefire

The Indian government has extended its ceasefire in Kashmir by a month and says it's willing to consider talks with Pakistan on the future of the disputed region.

A few hours later, Pakistan announced that it had started withdrawing troops from the Line of Control separating Indian and Pakistani-administered Kashmir in what its army called a bold initiative to improve the situation.

The Pakistanis did not mention Mr Vajpayee's statement directly, but the BBC Islamabad Correspondent says both countries seem to be taking gradual steps to bring about the right atmosphere for early talks on the situation.

On the Indian side, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, told parliament that although violence in Kashmir had not ended with the ceasefire, it had fallen off; there had also been a decline in separatist infiltration from the Pakistan side. Kashmiri separatists have given a mixed reaction to the developments; some welcomed the Indian ceasefire, but the more militant groups have dismissed the latest Indian moves as a sham.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service