Date set for India-Pakistan summit

General Musharraf: an open mind

India says Pakistan's military leader, General Pervez Musharraf, will travel to Delhi for three days of talks beginning on 14 July.

An Indian foreign ministry spokesman was confirming the date of a summit that was announced last month.

It will be the first high-level meeting between the two countries in more than two years.

Vajpayee: optimistic but no change in India's Kashmir position

The Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, has said he is optimistic that the talks will help resolve the long-running Kashmir dispute.

But he reaffirmed that there would be no compromise on India's position regarding the status of Kashmir, which he said was an integral part of India.

General Musharraf has said he will go to Delhi with an open mind, seeking to make his meeting with the Indian prime minister an historic one.

Preparations

Mr Musharraf's stay in India will begin with a ceremonial welcome in Delhi, with the summit being held in the Taj Mahal city of Agra. Details of the talks were being worked out.

"We are clear that Kashmir is an integral part of India. We will stress this issue in the dialogue," Mr Vajpayee told a news conference in Bombay.

"One-third of Kashmir is with Pakistan and we will raise this issue also," he added.

Mr Vajpayee has also announced that he would convene a meeting of all the political parties ahead of General Musharraf's visit.

Leaders of Kashmir's main Muslim separatist alliance said they were saddened by Mr Vajpayee's remarks.

"An atmosphere of trust was building up ahead of the summit," said Umer Farooq, of the All Party Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference.

"But the Indian prime minister's remarks are bound to raise lot of heat and dust on the other side."

Violence

In fresh violence, at least 10 militants and two Indian army officers were killed on Tuesday in two separate gun battles in Kashmir, police said.

They said one soldier and eight unidentified militants were killed in a shootout at Lachipora village in Baramulla district, 54 km (34 miles) north of Srinagar - Kashmir's summer capital.

Violence has continued unabated despite the prospect of peace talks

The clash occurred after the militants crossed the Line of Control separating Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, police said.

Later, security forces shot dead two militants during a gun battle in the neighbouring district of Kupwara.

In another incident, one soldier was killed in a blast in Doda district, 176 km (109 miles) east of Jammu, the winter capital, on Tuesday morning.