INTENSE security will surround Atal Behari Vajpayee today when he becomes the first Indian Prime Minister in 16 years to speak at a public rally in Kashmir.

This remarkable gesture by the Indian authorities is designed to illustrate the growing confidence of Delhi in the security situation in the troubled province, and the belief that the Kashmiris are disenchanted with Pakistani-inspired political activism and terrorism and interested in stability.

Hundreds of extra paramilitary police have flown to the summer capital of Srinagar to beef up already tight security. The area around the cricket stadium where he is due to speak has been searched for days.

But amid the heightened alert there were fresh outbreaks of violence by Islamic militants in which three people, including two policemen, were killed and 25 were injured in several separate attacks.

When Mr Vajpayee lands in Kashmir for his second visit to the state in less than a year, he is likely to be greeted by shuttered shops and businesses.

Leading politicians from the separatist Hurriyat Conference called for a two-day strike across the Kashmir Valley to press for a resolution to the violent insurgency that has to date claimed 38,000 lives.

Up to 20,000 people are expected at the Sher-e-Kashmir cricket stadium in central Srinagar to hear Mr Vajpayee.

He is the first Indian Prime Minister to appear in public there since the strife began late in 1989.

For several days security personnel with sniffer dogs and metal detectors have searched homes and the area around the ground for weapons and explosives. Gates to the stadium have been blocked with steel grilles.

Leaders of the state’s coalition government, headed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), have called on supporters to attend the rally in force to show their support for Mr Vajpayee.

Since the PDP swept to power seven months ago under the leadership of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed it has tried to defuse tension in the disputed territory with a “healing touch” policy designed to win over Kashmir’s alienated Muslim majority.

However, it has come under pressure from increased Islamist militant violence. Last month 24 Hindu villagers were massacred by gunmen in an atrocity that the Indian Government said was carried out with the backing of Pakistan.

India is to raise another 13 battalions of counter-insurgency troops in Kashmir to “effectively combat” the Islamic militants, the country’s deputy army chief announced late yesterday.

The force has acquired night vision devices from Israel to fight the rebels who have been waging a rebellion against India rule in the divided state, Lieutenant-General J. B. S. Yadava said.

The Hurriyat Conference has demanded that Mr Vajpayee announce talks involving Pakistan and Kashmiris in an effort to resolve the dispute over the state that has already caused two wars between India and Pakistan.

But Kashmiris’ hopes are likely to be dashed. Delhi has rejected talks until violence ceases.

Mr Vajpayee will restrict his comments to measures aimed at improving Kashmir’s dire economic lot.

“The purpose of this visit is to turn the focus on development challenges in the state, rather than security issues or talks,” a government spokesman said. “The message is: ‘we care for Kashmir Valley’. We want the people of Jammu and Kashmir to join the national mainstream, the pace of development.”

During his two-day visit Mr Vajpayee is also due to inaugurate work on a new terminal at Srinagar airport to encourage a revival of its ravaged tourism industry and a new national highway to link it with the rest of India.

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