Srinagar, India - Hundreds of thousands of protestors gathered at a sports ground in Jammu and Kashmir state capital Srinagar on Monday as separatist Hurriyat Conference leaders prepared to march to a United Nations' observers office with a memorandum demanding international intervention to resolve the Kashmir issue.

Hundreds of security personnel stood by under strict instructions to use maximum restraint and minimum force and not to use bullets to disperse protesters.

At least 23 people died in the Kashmir valley last week in police firings to disperse protestors whose agitation sparked by a land row has taken an anti-India turn.

New Delhi, Aug 18 : Ahead of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) meeting in Vienna, National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan is to chair a high-level meeting today to decide on the strategies to be followed by India on August 21 and 22.

The NSG’s plenary session is expected to discuss the possibility of granting India an exemption from its restrictive export rules. India is standing by its “excellent non-proliferation record” and will seek to allay any fears or doubts that the NSG might have about having nuclear commerce with it.

Germany, the NSG’s current chair, has asked India to take the floor at the NSG meeting on August 21 to brief its members about the country’s non-proliferation commitments and policies.

London, Aug. 18: The Situation in Pakistan is bothering everyone who has any interest or link with this region; and what worries people is that no one seems to be in control of the situation there, and no one knows future of the country.

The situation started getting from bad to worse with Pakistan's entry in the 'war on terror', which in view of many Pakistani experts was not Pakistan's war, and if anything Pakistani agencies had their own history and experience of promoting and exporting this business.

Islamabad, Aug. 17 : A Pakistani delegation will travel to India on Monday on a six-day visit to inspect the conditions of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails.

According to the Dawn, Members of the Pakistan-India Judicial committee comprising Justice (retired) Fazal Karim, Justice (retired) Mian Mohammad Ajmal, Justice 
(retired) Abdul Qadeer Chaudhry and Justice (retired) Nasir Aslam Zahid will visit jails in Amritsar, Jaipur and New Delhi from August 18 to 23.

There are over 400 Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails.

Lahore, Aug 17 : Authorities in Pakistan are reported to have lodged a strong complaint with their Indian counterparts over the release of flood waters from East Punjab, claiming that this has damaged considerable swathes of farmland in West Punjab.

According to officials in Lahore, waters released into the Sutlej River entered Pakistan on Saturday.