New Kashmir killing before Vajpayee's visit

India has said three people were killed by Pakistani shelling in a heavy exchange of mortar and artillery fire across the border in Kashmir.

Officials said the three were civilians, who died when a mortar hit their house west of Jammu.

The shelling came as intensified diplomatic pressure is being exerted on both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint.

At the same time, the Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, is visiting Kashmir today.

He will visit part of the front line, along which India and Pakistan have amassed close to a million troops.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service