New Delhi: Ahead of the crucial Foreign Ministers meeting in New Delhi, India today (Sep 2, 2004) said it is prepared to make the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir "softer" to enhance people-to-people contacts but will convey "strongly" to Pakistan its concerns over recent increase in infiltration and violence in Kashmir.

"We are prepared to make LoC a softer line," official sources said adding New Delhi looked forward to "realistic progress" in the composite dialogue process when External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh meets his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid M Kasuri on September five and six.

Foreign Secretaries Shyam Saran and Riaz Khokhar will meet a day earlier to review the progress on discussions held on the eight issues of the composite dialogue including JK and peace and security. Khokhar is arriving in New Delhi tomorrow (Sep 3, 2004).

Keen to promote people-to-people contacts, New Delhi feels that the LoC instead of being a "dividing" line should be one that can act as a bridge among the people of the two countries.

The sources said that while there was some decline in infiltration in the earlier part of the year, there has been a "perceptible increase" in its level in June and July and during this period the incidents of terrorist violence in J and K have gone up. "We will take this up strongly with Pakistan during the current talks," the sources said.