Kashmir Summit Ends Without Agreement

A G R A, India, July 16 -- Talks between the leaders of India andPakistan deadlocked late Monday over Kashmir, and the summitbetween the nuclear rivals ended without an agreement on thedisputed Himalayan province.

Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf met for an hour withIndian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as midnight approachedin one final attempt to salvage the three-day summit.

After a "stalemate," Musharraf and his delegation left for theairport in Agra, Pakistani Information Secretary Anwar Mahmoodsaid.

"We have reached no agreement," he said. "It was just afarewell call and now we are going to the airport."

Another Pakistani official close to the delegation accused theIndians of backtracking on earlier agreements.

Musharraf has insisted throughout the summit that the twocountries must resolve their dispute over Kashmir, where Muslimguerrillas are fighting for independence or a merger with Pakistan,before the nuclear-armed adversaries can improve relations.

Last Settlement in 1971

Since Muslim Pakistan was carved out of Hindu-majority Indiafollowing independence from Britain, both have claimed the entireJammu-Kashmir region. A cease-fire line from the 1971 war dividesit between them, with two-thirds in India and the remainder underPakistan's control.

Most Kashmiri militants train in camps in Pakistan and sneakinto India across the mountainous border. But Islamabad denies NewDelhi's charges that it arms and aids the Islamic militants.Islamabad says it gives only moral support. As many as 60,000people have died in Kashmir since 1989.

Before beginning formal talks with Vajpayee on Monday, Musharrafsurprised journalists with a long statement on Kashmir and dreamsof better ties with India.

"The public should be told that the main issue between Pakistanand India is Kashmir," Musharraf told a group of senior editorsfrom the Indian media. "I have never said that I would not talk onother issues. All I have said is that Kashmir is the main issue ...and I will carry on saying it because this is what we have killedeach other for."