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NEW DELHI, Wednesday (AFP) Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee dampened hopes that he would travel to Islamabad for talks with Pakistan, as violence again exploded in Kashmir.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali called Vajpayee late Monday, invited him to visit Pakistan for talks and offered to travel in person to India "in the interests of peace and stability in South Asia", in response to Vajpayee's April 18 offer of dialogue. However, Vajpayee said he would not visit Islamabad unless alleged cross-border terrorism in Kashmir is stamped out, a spokesman for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Tuesday.

"The prime minister can go to Pakistan if terrorism stops totally," said the spokesman, Vijay Kumar Malhotra.

"The prime minister told the BJP MPs about his talks with Zafarullah Jamali. The prime minister said he has not accepted Jamali's invitation to visit Pakistan." However, a government spokesman later disputed the notion that Vajpayee had rejected Jamali's offer.

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