Pakistan wars over, says Vajpayee

Vajpayee (R) and LK Advani are trying to ride the feel good factor

There will be no more wars with Pakistan, Indian premier Atal Behari Vajpayee has told an election rally in the northern city of Amritsar.

"I don't think we will fight ever again. This peace will be permanent; the friendship will last," he said.

Mr Vajpayee had joined deputy premier LK Advani, who was ending the first leg of a nationwide general election tour.

The pair are fighting for the re-election of their Bharatiya Janata Party in next month's election.

Trade call

Mr Vajpayee said peace was the only option before India and Pakistan.

The BBC's Asit Jolly at the rally says that Mr Vajpayee - clearly confident after India's success in the one-day cricket series between the nations - devoted a large part of his speech to bilateral relations.

This is a positive and constructive statement by the prime minister of India Pakistan foreign ministry

"Let us now work towards extending the goodwill generated on the playing field to all other spheres," he told the crowd of more than 5,000.

Mr Vajpayee called for greater cooperation and the enlargement of trade ties between the two countries.

He said it was in the interests of both nations to live in peace and to actively help and support one another.

Mr Vajpayee said his government had decided to once again trust the rulers of Pakistan despite previous failures.

That trust was based on India's inherent faith in humanity as well as the nation's confidence in its own military strength, he said.

A Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman welcomed Mr Vajpayee's comments.

"This is a positive and constructive statement by the prime minister of India," the spokesman told Reuters.

"It reflects the understanding and statesmanship that permeated the decisions taken by President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee on 6 January," he said, referring to the landmark bilateral meeting in Islamabad.

Mr Advani was concluding the first leg of his "India Shining" campaign tour which has so far covered 4,000km (2,500 miles).

Voting in the general election takes place in four main phases between 20 April and 10 May.