New Delhi: In a major initiative that could help break the Indo-Pak logjam, Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on April 28 spoke to Atal Behari Vajpayee over telephone and both leaders agreed to consider a set of measures, including resumption of air links and sporting contacts, to kick start the bilateral ties.

Coming just over a week after Vajpayee's visit to Srinagar where he offered the "hand of friendship" to Pakistan, Jamali, during his 10- minute conversation, conveyed appreciation of the Indian Prime Minister's remarks on Indo-Pak ties in Jammu and Kashmir as well as in Parliament, official sources said.

Vajpayee suggested the importance of economic co-operation, civil aviation links, which India snapped as part of punitive measures following the terrorist attack on Parliament, cultural exchanges and people-to-people contact.

For his part, Jamali suggested resumption of sporting links. Pakistan has since long been keen to resume cricket ties between the two countries.

Both the leaders concurred that these measures could be considered as a starting point to get out of the long impasse in bilateral ties.

Jamali, state-owned 'Pakistan Television' said, invited Vajpayee to visit Pakistan at his convenience and expressed readiness to visit India to further the peace process.

Jamali offered talks at any level on all issues, including Kashmir, PTV said.

It said Jamali offered talks at any level on all issues including Kashmir.

Vajpayee and Jamali agreed to be in touch with each other, PTV said.

The telephonic conversation between the two Prime Ministers, marking the first high-level political contact broke a long spell of bad blood between them that saw the two countries coming close to a military conflict soon after the Parliament attack.

The attack on Parliament saw the two countries severing air, road and rail links, substantial scaling down of their diplomatic missions in New Delhi and Islamabad, expulsion of each other's diplomats including their mission chiefs.

At a public rally in Srinagar on April 18, Vajpayee offered a hand of friendship to Pakistan, but made it clear that it should be reciprocated by Islamabad.

The very next day, Vajpayee, at an interaction with the media called for a "new beginning" in Indo-Pak ties, but said key to the resumption of dialogue would be Pakistan's response to India's demand that it end cross-border infiltration and terrorism.

Later, making a statement in Lok Sabha on his two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, he said stopping cross-border infiltration and dismantling of terrorist infrastructure by Pakistan can open the doors for talks on all issues including Jammu and Kashmir.

PTI