An Indian military spokesman said the handover was conducted with full military honours.

Owen Bennet-Jones in Islamabad: "This could go on for some time"

Earlier, India rejected Pakistan's proposal that Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz visit Delhi on 7 June for talks on tension over Kashmir.

A foreign ministry spokesman told reporters the Indian ministry of external affairs had " informed the Pakistan High Commission that the date is not convenient."

Weapons and clothing displayed

The head of the Indian army in Kashmir, Brigadier Arun Chopra, said that India had discovered the bodies of three Pakistani soldiers in what was "clear proof of Pakistani intrusion in our territory".

David Willis in Delhi: ID cards and pay books had been found on the bodies

He displayed weapons and clothing said to belong to the dead men at a news conference in Srinagar.

He said the soldiers were from Pakistan's 3rd and 4th northern light infantry and had been identified by their army ID cards and pay-books. He said they had probably been killed by artillery fire in the Batalik district, where some of the heaviest fighting has taken place.

The bodies were found on Thursday, about 7km inside Indian-controlled territory.

The allegation has been denied by Pakistan.

The country's Information Minister, Mushahid Hussain, told the BBC that the three men were on a routine patrol on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control when they were ambushed by Indian forces.

Lull in the bombing

Local residents have been moving out

The air raids in Kashmir were suspended on Saturday, Indian military officials said. However, a BBC correspondent in Srinagar, Altaf Hussein, said the delay was only temporary and was logistical rather than political.

It came after the 11th day of Indian air force raids and artillery attacks against guerrillas in the Kashmir heights. The latest strikes concentrated on the mountainous border region of Drass.

India says the guerrillas are Pakistani soldiers out of uniform, supported by Afghan mercenaries. Pakistan denies that its army is involved.

(Click here to see a map of the area)

Indian military officials in Jammu and Srinagar have said that journalists will no longer be able to travel freely on the northern Kargil highway.

No official reason was given, but army sources said a major assault was expected.

India pilot returned

David Willis in Delhi: A warm welcome and emotional family reunion in Delhi

The news of the three dead soldiers follows the release by Pakistan of a captured Indian fighter pilot. Pakistan said it freed Flight Lieutenant K Nachiketa as a gesture of "goodwill".

Flt Lt Nachiketa has crossed the border back into India

The pilot had been taken prisoner on 27 May after his MiG fighter came down close to the border between Indian- and Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

He did not comment on how he had been treated, simply saying he was keen to return to Kashmir to complete his mission.

On Friday, India strongly criticised remarks by Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz that the Line of Control was not clearly defined.

A government statement accused Pakistan of "manufacturing a rationale for aggression".

It said such "irresponsible" comments could have dangerous repercussions on the maintenance of peace and security.