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India hopes for top level talks with Pak

Fernandes, who is in Mysore to attend the two-day National Council meeting of the Samata Party from Monday, said the initiatives by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, including the unilateral cease-fire has made an impact in Jammu and Kashmir.

''Guns have fallen silent and there is no firing from across the border,'' he said.

Fernandes said there was no controversy over the issue of Point 5353, a peak on the Line of Control in Kashmir. He had visited Drass sector, he said.

The Defence Ministry had recently clarified that it had mistakenly mentioned that the defence minister himself had stood on Point 5353. It had also clarified that Fernandes had never said that Point 5353 was now in possession of Indian troops.

Meanwhile, security was put on high alert at Srinagar and Jammu airports in the wake of Lashker-e-Tayiba claims of storming the airport in Srinagar on Sunday, top official sources said in Jammu.

Refuting LeT claims, official sources said it was difficult to enter the airport with weapons as even personal security officers were not allowed to carry them while accompanying protected persons.

The sources said that police and other security agencies have been geared up to prevent any such eventuality in and around the two airports.

The police and security forces are conducting multiple checks on passenger baggage, the sources said, adding that the LeT claim was to create a scare about the safety of airports.

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