India shores up Kashmir truce

This was the worst violence in a decade

India is pressing ahead with steps to consolidate peace in Kashmir despite a series of gun attacks blamed on Kashmiri factions opposed to the ceasefire.

Home Ministry officials and a representative of militant group Hizbul Mujahadeen are reportedly due to begin discussions in Srinagar towards a peace initiative.

The people of Kashmir will be braced for more attacks

But a Hizbul Mujahideen spokesman told French news agency AFP that their ceasefire would end in five days unless India agreed to unconditional tripartite talks with Pakistan and Kashmiris.

The BBC Delhi correspondent says talks on a political settlement still remain far away in a process that will be fraught with obstacles.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is spending the afternoon in Indian-administered Kashmir to visit sites where more than 90 people - many of them Hindu pilgrims - were killed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Trading charges

Hizbul Mujahideen, which issued the ceasefire offer last week, blamed the violence on groups intent on derailing peace attempts.

Correspondents say the people of Indian-administered Kashmir are braced for such attacks to continue and for the security forces to continue their operations against them.

It is up to India to take this opportunity to start a process of dialogue

Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf

Mr Vajpayee blamed the violence on Pakistan-based militant groups.

"Groups owing allegiance to Pakistan or groups directly ordered by Pakistan have risen to derail the peace process by the massacre of innocent people," the prime minister told parliament.

But Pakistan denied any involvement, saying the attacks were staged by "renegade elements" of the Indian army.

'No-war pact'

US President Bill Clinton telephoned Mr Vajpayee to express his condolences and to urge him to persevere with his current effort to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

Washington also said it would urge Pakistan to use its influence to bring the violence to an end.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, has renewed his offer of talks with India on the Kashmir issue, saying the ceasefire offer had presented a "window of opportunity" to India and Pakistan.

General Musharraf told BBC News Online in a live webcast that it was up to the two countries to initiate the process of dialogue towards and ultimate resolution of the long-standing dispute.

He also offered a "no-war pact" with India and a proposed reduction in the armed forces of both countries, adding "The ball is now in India's court."

Massacres

Our correspondent says the feeling throughout the region is that Pakistan should be party to the ceasefire talks if there is to be a lasting peace.

Tuesday was the worst day of violence in Indian-administered Kashmir in a decade.

The violence began only hours after Hizbul Mujahideen called the ceasefire.

Separatist militants opened fire in a busy marketplace in Pahalgam, killing 30 people and injuring many others.

Pahalgam lies on the route to the holy Hindu cave shrine of Amarnath, which is visited by thousands of devotees every year.

Later the same day, 19 Hindu labourers were killed at a brick kiln in Mir Bazar, in the Anantnag district south of the capital, Srinagar.

On Wednesday morning, militants killed at least 29 Hindus in the Doda region of southern Kashmir.

And within a few hours, a former militant and six members of his family were killed in Baramullah district.