New Delhi: Japan on May 9 told Pakistan that it should put a permanent end to cross-border infiltration and also take steps to dismantle terrorist camps in that country.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi put this across during a telephonic conversation with Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshed Mehmood Kasuri.

Later, she spoke to External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and said she had told Kasuri that "Pakistan should stop, on a permanent basis, the infiltration across the line of control (LoC) and also tackle the dismantling of terrorist camps".

Following Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's fresh peace initiative, US Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to Sinha twice. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw as also counterparts from Russia, France and other key countries have had telephonic contacts with Sinha on the Indo-Pak peace moves.

Kawaguchi congratulated Vajpayee for his initiative towards breaking the deadlock in Indo-Pak relations.

"Japan welcomes Prime Minister's initiative and looks forward to this leading to an improvement in India- Pakistan relations," Kawaguchi told Sinha in her 25-minute telephonic conversation.

Sinha briefed his Japanese counterpart in some detail on Prime Minister's visit to Srinagar and the initiatives taken since then by India.

He also briefed her on Pakistan's response so far and noted that "the key issue remains the dismantling of the terrorist infrastructure and stopping of infiltration across the line of control".

PTI