NEW DELHI: India`s prime minister appealed on Sunday for an end to raging street protests in Kashmir and urged outlawed Maoist rebels elsewhere in the country to respond to his appeal for talks.

Manmohan Singh`s appeal came a day after two more protesters died in clashes with security forces in Kashmir, taking to 57 the number of civilians killed in clashes since early June.

"Recently, some young men have lost their lives in violence in Jammu and Kashmir (and) we deeply regret this," Singh said in his annual independence day address.

The prime minister said New Delhi would hold talks with Kashmir protesters but only if the violence ended.

"Kashmir is an integral part of India. Within this framework, we are ready to move forward in any talks," he said from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi.

The Independence Day address marks the end of British colonial rule in 1947 and partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, a split that has caused endless tension and triggered three wars -- two of them over Kashmir.

The Muslim-majority region is divided between the nuclear-armed neighbours who each claim it in full.

Singh, who recently labelled Maoist extremism as India`s biggest internal security threat, once again proffered an olive branch to the leftwing rebels who are active in 20 of the country`s 29 states.

"I once again appeal to (Maoists) to abjure violence, come for talks with the government and join hands with us to accelerate social and economic development," he said.

The Maoists have been blamed for a recent spate of massacres of policemen as well as the derailment of a Mumbai-bound passenger express from Kolkata that claimed the lives of 146 civilians in May.
 
BDST: 1104 HRS, August 15, 2010