Indian PM and hardliners make peace

The Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and hardline Hindu leaders have agreed to stop criticising each other, in a bid to head off a damaging split.

Mr Vajpayee and senior members of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) met leaders of their political ally, the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Delhi.

Afterwards, the BJP President (Venkaiah Naidu) said both sides would try to understand each other's problems.

The RSS opposes opening the economy up further to foreign investors.

It has also criticised the BJP-led government for failing to give enough support to the controversial campaign to build a Hindu temple at Ayodhya on the site of a mosque that was destroyed by Hindus a decade ago.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service