Pakistani PM reaches out to India

Shaukat Aziz is due to meet Mr Singh next weekend

Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said he will propose a series of confidence-boosting joint projects with India.

He plans to put them to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a regional summit in Bangladesh next weekend.

Mr Aziz made his comments in an interview with the British newspaper, the Financial Times.

He said he hopes the projects will help ease tensions between the two countries over issues like Kashmir.

Mr Aziz said that a gas pipeline to connect India with Iran via Pakistan and a move to open banking links were among possible measures which could improve relations.

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Kashmir dispute

There were "many other possibilities which we want to explore", the paper quoted him as saying.

Last week Mr Aziz said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos that both countries needed energy, and linking them with a pipeline would reduce the "trust deficit" that prevented closer co-operation.

Peace process

Pakistan and India have held peace talks for most of 2004 after a ceasefire along the Line of Control that divides their forces in the disputed region of Kashmir came into effect the previous year.

Senior foreign minister officials met in December to discuss a range of issues.

While trade and transport links between the two nuclear rivals have improved, little progress has been made in resolving their differences over Kashmir, which has led to two wars between them.