"Pakistan is sincere in its efforts for peace in the region," Musharraf

ISLAMABAD, November 30 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In a new gesture of goodwill after initiating a ceasefire along the heavily militarized Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir, Pakistan reaffirmed Sunday, November 30, willingness to resume air links with nuclear neighbor India.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf told a delegation from the Pakistan and India Young Presidents Organization that his country would agree to the resumption of flights with India in the second round of talks in New Delhi on Monday, December 1.

"Pakistan is sincere in its efforts for peace in the region," the official Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Musharraf as saying.

He was hopeful a recent thaw between the two nuclear-capable neighbors would culminate in the resolution of all pending disputes but maintained peace was tied to "honor, dignity and sovereign equality," added the agency.

The first round of talks between Pakistani and Indian aviation officials and experts, held in August in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi, failed to yield positive substance after new Delhi declined to give guarantees against unilateral overflight bans, as it unilaterally did in January 2002.

The two countries severed air links after the December 2001 attack on India's parliament, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-backed Kashmir separatists, a charge vehemently repudiated by Islamabad.

The ceasefire was proposed by Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali in his nationwide address on Sunday, November 23.

India reciprocated positively to the Pakistani goodwill gesture, and hostilities have come to a halt on the LoC Tuesday, one day ahead of the Muslims Eid Al-Fitr which marks the end of Ramadan.

The ceasefire, the first in at least 14 years, covers the 230-kilometre of non-disputed section of the international border in Kashmir, the disputed 760-kilometer LoC and the northern Siachen Glacier.

Pakistani foreign office spokesman Masood Khan described the ceasefire agreement as a "major development", asserting it has created a "positive atmosphere" which should be further strengthened.

"This is first step and Pakistan and India should start composite and result-oriented talks so that various issues, including the core issue of Kashmir, could be settled."

Khan also welcomed recent statements by Indian Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee that he would meet Jamali during a summit of the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on January 4-6 in Islamabad.

"It is good news and talks between the two countries should start," said the spokesman.

The nuclear-armed neighbors started a process of rapprochement after Vajpayee offered a symbolic hand of friendship to Pakistan in April.

His efforts paid off with the two countries restoring full diplomatic ties on May 2 to settle half a century of disputes "for the economic and social betterment of their peoples."

The jerky start to peace moves led to the resumption of a bi-weekly bus service, but the two rivals are yet to re-start train or air services.