Security tight ahead of India-Pakistan summit

NEW DELHI, India -- Indian police have stepped up security around the Taj Mahal in the northern city of Agra ahead of this weekend's India-Pakistan summit.

The 17th century monument to love is closed to the public for three days as of Friday as the two country's leaders hold talks designed to seek an end to decades of hostility.

While the major sticking point is likely to revolve around the status of the disputed territory of Kashmir, several other contentious issues are also expected to be debated.

New Delhi says Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will try to push talks beyond Kashmir to include trade, the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the return of prisoners-of-war.

But Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has stressed that although he is willing to extend his visit by 48 hours to address other issues, Kashmir remains central to improving ties.

Kashmir handover untenable

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Musharraf was quoted Thursday as saying no Pakistani leader could accept continued Indian control over most of the disputed territory of Kashmir and expect to stay in power.

He said no one in his country would accept the Line of Control (LoC) which divides the two rival countries in Kashmir as permanent.

"I think it will be very unrealistic for any Indian leader to expect any leader of Pakistan to go and accept the permanence of the Line of Control," Musharraf was quoted as telling the Dubai-based Gulf News newspaper.

"Respecting the LoC is a different matter, accepting it as a permanent solution is another matter," he said.

The summit comes after a two-year deadlock in the peace process.

Close to 400 people, mostly rebels, have been killed since India announced it was ending its ceasefire in Kashmir earlier this year.

Overall officials say some 30,000 people have been killed since the revolt erupted at the end of 1989.

War prisoners

India insisted again on Thursday that Pakistan was still holding prisoners of war dating back to when the two countries battled over what became Bangladesh in 1971.

"There are 54 PoWs in Pakistan and this issue continues to be a pending concern for us," Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokeswoman Nirupama Rao told Reuters news agency.

On Wednesday, a Pakistani military spokesman said there were no Indian PoWs from the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war in its prisons.

"As far as we are concerned there are none," Pakistan military spokesman Major-General Rashid Qureshi told reporters at a Wednesday news briefing.

Earlier this week dozens of demonstrators picketed Pakistan's embassy in New Delhi, demanding Islamabad releases the prisoners.

Indian officials estimate there are some 1,300 of its nationals in Pakistan's jails, including the 54 PoWs. Pakistan says is holding only 135 Indians.