The police in Indian-administered Kashmir have fired hundreds of tear gas shells to break up an anti-India demonstration in the state's summer capital, Srinagar, on Friday.

Mr Vajpayee will address the UN on Friday

The demonstrators, led by the head of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front - Javed Ahmed Mir - were protesting against the killing of two civilians by India's paramilitary Border Security Force on Thursday.

Mourners took one of the bodies for burial in a procession with many protesters chanting pro-freedom slogans from atop buses.

Despite the use of force, the police failed to stop the procession which came just days before the first stage of state legislative elections are held on Monday.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, met President George Bush and discussed both the Kashmir polls and tensions with Pakistan over "cross-border terrorism".

War of words

Mr Vajpayee is said to have asked President Bush to urge Pakistan to stop supporting groups which Delhi says intend to disrupt the elections.

Mr Musharraf: Kashmir polls would 'be rigged'

President Bush met the Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf late on Thursday and is believed to have stressed the importance of following through his commitment to return Pakistan to full democracy.

Officials say Mr Bush did not threaten any specific penalties for failing to hold free and fair elections, nor did he offer Mr Vajpayee any more than symbolic pledges of goodwill.

Mr Vajpayee is due to address the General Assembly later on Friday and is expected to answer charges that President Musharraf made in his speech.

The Pakistani president criticised the forthcoming elections in Indian-administered Kashmir, saying they would "once again be rigged".

He went on to accuse New Delhi of holding peace in South Asia hostage and proposed immediate steps to prevent another war between the two nations.

A global issue

Meanwhile, violent incidents have continued in Indian administered Kashmir.

On Friday, the police in Srinagar said its Special Task Force (STF) killed two commanders of the Al-Badr Mujahideen group of separatist militants, who had been arrested three weeks ago.

The two men, both Pakistani nationals according to the police, died when an STF escort taking them to an undisclosed location was ambushed by unidentified gunmen.

Officials say Indian security forces killed another three militants, also believed to be Pakistani nationals, close to the border on Friday.

Correspondents say tensions have been heightened since the death of Law Minister Mushtaq Lone on the campaign trail on Wednesday.

On Thursday the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, said the standoff between India and Pakistan, along with the turmoil in Afghanistan, was one of the most important issues facing the world.