Sartaj Aziz's visit accepted
India today accepted Pakistan's offer to send its foreign minister Sartaj Aziz to New Delhi for talks on the Kargil crisis, even as it accused the `government of Pakistan' of `engineering' the infiltration along the Line of Control. The considerable hardening of position is a clear departure from the exoneration of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by Defence Minister George Fernandes some days ago. It is aimed not only at setting the tone of the dialogue with Aziz, but also at sending a message to Islamabad that `there is no failure of nerve' in New Delhi.

13 killed in Delhi fire
At least 13 persons, including four children, were charred to death and more than 50 sustained severe burns in a devastating fire in the congested walled city in Delhi this evening. The fire which was first noticed around 3.55 p.m. at the office of a transport company in a building at the crowded Lal Kuan area of the old city fanned swiftly by heavy winds engulfing three more buildings in the vicinity. While 12 persons died on the spot, one succumbed to the injuries on way to INJP hospital.