India made a dramatic U-turn in its Kashmir policy today, announcing that its deputy prime minister will hold talks with the Kashmiri separatists it has shunned and tried to discredit for 13 years.

Despite expectations, both India’s houses of Parliament adjourned today without Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee commenting on Saturday’s attack by suspected Islamic militants that killed 28 civilians in India-controlled Kashmir.

India has delivered to Pakistan a list of 20 other suspected terrorists it wants arrested and handed over.

Indian missiles were declared 'in position' today and frontier forces exchanged gunfire near the Pakistan border as the two nations prepared for a war both say they do not want.