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Meeting in their first high-level talks, Kashmiri separatist leaders and top Indian officials vowed Thursday to find a peaceful route to end the violence that has savaged the Himalayan region.

Kashmiri separatist Professor Abdul Gani Bhat (2ndR) talks with the head of People's Action Committee and chief priest of Kashmir as chief of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Maulana Abbas Ansari (2ndL) gestures and Umar Fazal Haque Qureshi (L) looks on after their meeting with Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani in New Delhi. Advani said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will meet 23 January the five moderate Kashmiri separatists who are in New Delhi for historic peace talks with the Indian government. [AFP]

"The meeting has proved a very good beginning," India's deputy prime minister, Lal Krishna Advani, told reporters after he led Indian negotiators in discussions with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella group of religious and political parties and Kashmir (news - web sites)'s most prominent separatist organization.

While little of substance had been expected from the meeting, the fact that the 2 1/2-hour discussions concluded with such public amicability was a significant sign that things were moving along well in efforts to bring peace to Kashmir — and in relations between India and longtime rival Pakistan.

In a joint statement, both sides declared that "the only way forward is to ensure that all forms of violence at all levels should come to an end," and that "a step by step approach would lead to resolution of all outstanding issues relating to Jammu and Kashmir."

In addition, Advani also agreed to a "rapid review" of people held in detention in Kashmir without trial, the joint statement said, a sore point for most Kashmiris.

The Indian press had billed the talks as an icebreaker between longtime political foes, and in that respect it appeared to have gone very well. During the talks, Hurriyat leaders asked to make a courtesy call on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said Advani, who arranged that meeting for Friday evening.

Advani is the most prominent hard-line Hindu nationalist in the Indian government, and has long been distrusted by many Kashmiri separatists. While the Hurriyat is a legal organization, some of its members have ties to the myriad militant Islamic groups that have been fighting Indian security forces in Kashmir since 1989.

The Hurriyat appeared pleased with how things went.

Abdul Ghani Bhat, a top Hurriyat leader, told reporters the meeting had been "a significant step in the process."

The meeting reflected broader peace efforts between India and Pakistan, for whom Kashmir has long been the most divisive issue.

Advani said Thursday's meeting was the result of "a new atmosphere in which there is determination all around to see that violence comes to an end."

An easing of India-Pakistan relations began in April, when the often-ailing 79-year-old Vajpayee shocked the region by announcing he was ready to resume dialogue, saying: "This round of talks will be decisive, and at least for my life, these will be the last."

Since then, the two nuclear-armed rivals have traded envoys, opened transportation links and, most importantly, agreed to start talks on Kashmir. It was a significant shift from 2002, when the two nations had nearly gone to war again, after attacks that India blamed on Pakistan-backed militants.

At the World Economic Forum (news - web sites) in Davos, Switzerland, Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf stressed his commitment to resolve his country's dispute with India over Kashmir.

"I strongly believe that we must not live perpetually in enmity," he said. "I am very glad that mutually we agreed on a way forward."

Disagreements over Kashmir began as colonial India was given its freedom in 1947 and divided into modern India and Pakistan. During partition, the Hindu king of predominantly Muslim Kashmir chose to merge the region with India — though most of his subjects would almost certainly have chosen to join overwhelmingly Muslim Pakistan.

The two nations have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region, once a tourist paradise known for its alpine forests, excellent skiing and golf courses. Today, though, it remains divided between them, cleaved along the so-called Line of Control, one of the world's most militarized boundaries.

India accuses Pakistan of supplying money and arms to the numerous rebel groups fighting for an independent Kashmir or a merger with Pakistan. Pakistan, though, insists it offers them only diplomatic and moral support.

Some 65,000 people, most of them civilians, have died in the insurgency.

The role of the militants, who are not involved in the talks, remains a major hurdle to peace.

Hurriyat leaders insist the militants need to be brought into the dialogue, and they have long sought the right to travel to Pakistan to meet with guerrilla chiefs. On Thursday, Advani refused to say whether the separatists had again raised that request.

Some of the most hard-line militant groups have accused the Hurriyat of betraying the Kashmiri cause by agreeing to the talks, and have vowed to continue with the near-daily attacks.

The next round of discussions will take place in late March, the statement said.

While India is highly unlikely to ever grant independence to Kashmir, smaller steps — including a reduction in Indian military presence in Kashmir, some level of local administration and promises of more financial help — are possibilities.

The talks sparked optimism — but also plenty of cynicism — in Kashmir, where previous peace initiatives have crumbled away.

"We want peace," said Tariq Ahmed, a college student surfing the Web at an Internet cafe in Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital. "We want an end to this bloodshed. And if the Hurriyat-New Delhi talks will lead to the settlement of the Kashmir issue, we welcome them."

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