Hizbul sets Aug 8 deadline for talks

"The Hizbul Mujahideen central leadership will wait for a positive Indian response until 5 P.M. (1200 GMT) on August 8," said the statement from Hizbul Mujahideen, which announced a three-month ceasefire last week and called for talks including Pakistan and India.

New Delhi said Home Secretary Kamal Pande was preparing for initial talks in Srinagar with a representative of the group.

Pande had originally been due to discuss implementation of the truce with Hizbul Mujahideen emissary Fazal-Haq Qureshi on Wednesday, but stayed back briefly in New Delhi for consultations after news of a series of murders this week by militants which killed at least 90 people in the troubled Kashmir region.

"Hizbul Mujahideen has provided a last and golden chance to India after putting 12 years of activity and credibility at stake by announcing a unilateral ceasefire," the statement said.

It said the India, which has never agreed to talks with Kashmiris and Pakistan, "should give up its traditional stubbornness and delaying tactics and adopt a realistic approach to resolve the 53 year-old Kashmir issue through meaningful tripartite talks."

Hizbul Mujahideen’s cadres account for more than half of the roughly 3,500 militants estimated to be operating in Kashmir, the cause of two of the three wars India and Pakistan have fought since 1947.

U.S. President Bill Clinton had phoned Vajpayee and offered his condolences over the killings. He also promised to speak to Pakistan’s rulers over the incident.

"He added that he would speak to the leaders of Pakistanand do everything possible to contain such activities," a statement issued by Vajpayee’s office said.

Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf late on Wednesday urged India to resume stalled peace talks, adding the ceasefire offered a "window of opportunity".

"It is up to India and Pakistan to take this opportunity to start and initiate a process of dialogue towards an ultimate resolution of this long-standing dispute," he said in an Internet interview with the BBC.