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Pakistani PM calls Indian leaderFirst contact between the two men in 18 months
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The prime minister of Pakistan called his Indian counterpart Monday and said he was prepared to work to resolve all issues between the nuclear neighbors, a spokesman for Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali said. "He welcomed Prime Minister [Atal Bihari] Vajpayee's offer of talks with Pakistan and reiterated Pakistan's readiness for a dialogue with India at any level," Pakistan's press information office said in a statement. Jamali "expressed the hope that such dialogue will address all outstanding issues between the two countries, including Kashmir," the statement said. In addition, Jamali invited Vajpayee to visit Pakistan "at his convenience" and offered to travel to India "in the interest of peace and stability in South Asia," the statement said. The two prime ministers "agreed to keep in touch," said the statement, which described the conversation as "most cordial and useful." The call breaks 18 months without contact between the two men. In addition to discussing resumption of flights over India by Pakistan International Airlines, Jamali told Vajpayee the Pakistanis are prepared for talks at any level and at any time to begin to resolve all outstanding issues, Jamali's spokesman said. Jamali also expressed gratitude for comments made in recent weeks by Vajpayee during an address to the Indian Parliament in Srinigar and in India-controlled Kashmir in which he said he hoped the countries' disputes could be resolved not with guns but with words, Jamali's spokesman said. Monday's conversation lasted 20 minutes, he said.
But a spokesman for Vajpayee said the conversation, which took place at 8 p.m. (1430 GMT), lasted 10 minutes. In addition to discussing ways of increasing economic cooperation and cultural exchanges, Jamali proposed resuming sporting contacts -- particularly cricket -- between the countries, Vajpayee's spokesman said. He described the phone call as a "fairly significant development" and a "start" toward peace. India has accused Pakistan of promoting "cross-border terrorism." Last year, both sides mobilized their armies along their common border as tensions heightened. Just two weeks ago, India's minister for external affairs talked about the possibility of launching a pre-emptive strike against Pakistan, and suggested India had a better case for such a strike than the United States did against Iraq. But Vajpayee's spokesman said that in Monday's conversation Jamali condemned all forms of terrorism. Relations between the nuclear neighbors appeared to reach a low last May, when an outbreak of hostilities appeared possible. Monday's phone call came as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage prepared to visit both countries next month to launch a new round of diplomatic efforts to diminish tensions between them. -- CNN Delhi Bureau Chief Satinder Bindra and Islamabad Producer Syed Mohsin Naqvi contributed to this story.
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