'Talks can solve Kashmir dispute'

Vajpayee offered a "hand of friendship" to Pakistan in April

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri has said his country should have a regular and uninterrupted dialogue with India to solve all disputes, including that of Kashmir.

In an interview with the BBC Hindi Service, Mr Kasuri said the Kashmir issue could not be solved by any military action.

On Sunday, Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes said the recent warming of ties with Pakistan could lead to a summit between the leaders of the two nuclear rivals.

In April, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee set in train a series of reciprocal peace moves when he offered the "hand of friendship" to Pakistan.

Mr Kasuri said the Pakistan Government was making all possible efforts to stop militant activities from its soil.

Accusations

He said Pakistan had banned some of the organisations active in Indian Kashmir, and had also closed down their offices.

The Delhi-Lahore bus service was opened in 1999

India accuses Pakistan of supporting Kashmiri militants in carrying out acts of violence, something that Islamabad denies.

On Sunday at least six people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir in separate incidents.

Suspected Muslim gunmen shot dead three Hindu shepherds in a remote forest and Indian troops shot and killed three suspected militants.

The Pakistan minister said Kashmiris from both sides of the border could be invited to participate in peace talks between the two sides at a later stage.

Peace moves

In a regional conference in Singapore on Sunday, India's defence minister raised hopes of a high-level dialogue between the two sides.

"There is a slow movement upward, but a very definite movement toward a summit," Mr Fernandes said at a regional defence conference in Singapore.

Mr Fernandes said there has been a "positive response" from Islamabad and the international community to recent Indian peace moves.

"We are currently in the process of confidence-building," Mr Fernandes said.

Mr Vajpayee's "hand of friendship" speech in Kashmir ended a prolonged deadlock following an attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001 which Delhi blames on Pakistan-backed militants.

Since then both India and Pakistan have taken several steps aimed at normalising their bilateral relations.

The two countries reappointed their ambassadors and a regular bus service is expecte to be resumed.

Both sides have also taken steps to release prisoners from India and Pakistan currently jailed in each other's country.

In the preceding 18 months, the two countries had come close to war over Kashmir, which has marred relations between India and Pakistan for the past 50 years.