Positive start to Agra summit

The leaders held a long one-to-one talk

India and Pakistan say their landmark summit in the historic city of Agra has been very constructive and a third round of talks will be held on Monday.

But fighting erupted in the disputed Kashmir region as Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee held direct talks without aides.

The safe conclusion should be that there is understanding and there is positive movement

Pakistan spokesman Rashid Qureshi

Indian officials said at least 18 Islamic militants were killed in fighting in the Poonch district of Kashmir, near the border with Pakistan.

Despite the optimistic signals from the summit - the first such meeting for more than two years - no dramatic breakthrough on the Kashmir question is expected.

Kashmir dispute

There has been no clear indication yet of the substance of the talks.

Mr Musharraf took time out to visit the Taj Mahal with his wife

In the run-up to the meeting Mr Musharraf had made it clear that the summit could only succeed if Kashmir was the focus. But the Pakistani side has signalled a softening of that hard line.

India, which does not want to yield its sovereign rights over Kashmir, said it wanted a broad-based dialogue covering other pressing areas of dispute, including trade, nuclear weapons and militants.

Mr Vajpayee has accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan.

Formal talks

The formal talks are being held against the backdrop of the Taj Mahal.

The first one-to-one meeting lasted far longer than had been expected.

The BBC's Susannah Price in Agra says no one is expecting any clear answers to the huge differences between India and Pakistan.

However, a structure for continuing a dialogue would be welcomed by both sides.

The closing summit declaration is expected to be very carefully worded so that both leaders can present the outcome as a success to their own peoples.

Mr Musharraf and his wife also visited the Taj Mahal, where they posed for photographs in front of the world's most celebrated monument to love.

Security

The summit is taking place under heavy security.

20,000 troops are on hand at Agra

Police arrested 15 members of the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party who were protesting against the meeting,

The hotels where the two leaders are staying have been sealed and handed over to the security agencies.

Nearby streets are being patrolled by police with bomb-sniffer dogs, overlooked by sharpshooters, who have taken up rooftop positions.

Police also patrolled the nearby Yamuna River in boats, with professional divers aboard, looking for bombs.

"We have deployed nearly 20,000 policemen in Agra," said A K D Dwivedi, the local police chief.

All vehicles entering Agra are being registered by the police and trains and buses are also under surveillance.

A weekly animal market which is normally held in the city on Sunday has also been cancelled, police said.

The Taj Mahal remains open to tourists, but far fewer than normal are enjoying the attraction, and those who are have been outnumbered by the guards, commandos and police touring the compound.