NEW DELHI, May 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Amid heavy exchange of fire
across the line of control in Kashmir, Indian Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee reviewed the situation along the  border on
Thursday with his senior ministers.
   "Various issues were discussed ... not just the military
situation," External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh told the media
after the meeting which lasted for nearly two hours.
   The meeting was attended, among others, by Singh, Home Minister
L. K. Advani and Defense Minister George Fernandes. After the
meeting, Vajpayee apprised President Kocheril Raman Narayanan of
the "current situation" in Kashmir, said a statement issued by the
president office.
   According to the Press Trust of India (PTI), Vajpayee is also
understood to have informed the president about his upcoming visit
to Kazakhstan to participate in a security conference, which is
also likely to be attended by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
   Jaswant Singh briefed the press that there was no change in the
tour program of the prime minister, who is scheduled to leave for
Almaty the coming Sunday for the two-day Conference and
Interaction on Confidence Building Measures in Asia.
   Vajpayee, who will be in Kazakhstan for three days, is expected
to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will also
reportedly meet Musharraf in a bid to defuse the escalated tension
between India and Pakistan.
   Under the cloud of a possible war between the two neighbors,
Defense Minister George Fernandes has decided to leave for
Singapore on Thursday night for an Asian Pacific defense minister
meeting.
   Official sources here said that Fernandes would take this
opportunity to brief world leaders on the current stand-off along
Indo-Pakistan border, specially in the disputed Kashmir valley.
   A few hours earlier, it was officially announced that the
minister had canceled his three-day official visit to Singapore in
view of the prevailing tense situation along the border.
   A reliable source here said it was Vajpayee who decided that
Fernandes should go ahead with his journey on the ground that
putting off his trip at the juncture would send wrong signals.
   Vajpayee, the source said, told Fernandes that keeping in view
of the importance of the meeting in Singapore, he should take the
opportunity to brief the leaders of the Asian-Pacific region on
how "Islamabad's continued adamant stand on cross-border terrorism
has brought about the current stand-off between the two countries."
   Reports from Kashmir said exchange of shelling across the
border and the line of control continued on Thursday with
Pakistani forces targeting a main highway and border town of
Poonch, all in Indian side.
   Indian forces retaliated, killing 10 soldiers and destroying a
number of their bunkers.  Enditem