Kashmir ignites as summit differences emerge

India's Vajpayee has accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan

AGRA, India -- Five Indian soldiers have been killed and thirteen others wounded in Kashmir, overshadowing a continuing summit between arch foes India and Pakistan.

The most positive aspect of the talks between Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was the announcement of another round of previously unscheduled talks to be held Monday.

Delegates from the both sides in the Agra summit issued statements striking a discordant note as Indian police announced that more than 60 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence since Friday.

Gen. Musharraf arrived Saturday for the first visit in more than a decade by a Pakistani head of state, holding talks that both sides described as "cordial, frank and constructive" following talks Sunday.

But in apparent contradiction of that jointly-sanctioned statement, the Pakistan president insisted Kashmir had been the focus of the leaders' private talks and that unless it was resolved, other issues were moot.

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"(This is) the reality on the ground, whether we like it or not," Gen. Musharraf said.

"I keep talking of Kashmir, you keep talking of cross-border terrorism ... we need to get to the issue."

A government statement reiterated the president's stance: "Pervez Musharraf had made it plain to his host that no progress could be made toward normalization of relations between the two countries unless the issue of Kashmir was resolved in accordance with the wishes of the people of Kashmir."

The statement went on to say that while Vajpayee "referred to certain other issues," Musharraf told him that Pakistan would not discuss the others topics "unless the core issue was discussed and resolved."

Sushma Swaraj, India's information minister said: "A number of issues were thrashed out. These included the issue of nuclear risk reduction."

She said the two touched on trade, cross-border terrorism and the return of Indian war prisoners.

Musharraf promised Monday to look into claims that Islamabad was still holding 54 Indian prisoners of war -- some of them for the past three decades.

"I am a soldier. I would be the first man to release prisoners of war," he told a briefing for Indian newspaper editors on the sidelines of the summit.

Kashmir has ignited two of their three wars, the last in 1971.

A Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, which happened late on Sunday night.

"One of our suicide fighters, Abu Hamza, attacked the camp and inflicted heavy casualties. Hamza was able to escape from the camp," Abu Usama, a spokesman for Lashkar-e-Taiba, told Reuters news agency by phone.

Monument to love

Police confirmed the raid at Magam camp in Kupwara town, around 90 kms (55 miles) northwest of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state.

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said Gen. Musharraf had invited his host to visit Pakistan and that Vajpayee had accepted.

No details were given as to when the visit would take place, nor were any details announced about what issues the two leaders discussed or what differences might have emerged between them.

Leaks suggest the talks were wide-ranging and were partly devoted to setting up mechanisms for future negotiations.

Between the two private meetings with his summit partner, Gen. Musharraf accompanied his wife on a tour of the nearby Taj Mahal.

It is reported that Mrs. Musharraf has always wanted to see the so-called "monument to love."

A heartbroken King built the renowned structure more than 350 years ago as a tomb for his wife -- who died bearing their 14th child.

The Musharrafs spent nearly an hour on a guided tour of both the outside and the inside of the Taj.

Gen. Musharraf is scheduled to return to Islamabad late Monday after visiting a Muslim shrine in western India.

Musharraf's state visit marked the first time in more than a decade that a Pakistani head of state had stepped on Indian soil.