Vajpayee promises people of Kashmir that better days are ahead

INDIA’S prime minister, in a rare visit to Kashmir, called for talks with Pakistan over the war-torn Himalayan region yesterday and promised its people better days ahead.

Speaking from behind bullet-proof glass and amid tight security, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told a cheering crowd of about 10,000, mostly supporters of the state government bussed in from villages, violence was no answer.

“All issues should be settled through talks,” he said in a brief speech that appeared conciliatory to both Pakistan and Kashmiri groups in the first public address by an Indian prime minister in the Kashmir valley in more than 15 years.