Beijing: Ahead of Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf's visit to Beijing, China on October 23 lauded India for initiating new steps to ease the situation in South Asia, which is in accordance with the wishes of the international community.

"China welcomes all the efforts for the relaxation of relationship between Pakistan and India," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told reporters when asked to comment on New Delhi's latest peace moves to ease ties with Islamabad.

"We sincerely hope that Pakistan and India can properly solve their disputes through dialogue and can calmly commit themselves to regional stability and development," she said.

"This is not only in the interest of the two countries and two peoples, but is also a common expectation of the international community. So we welcome the decisions made by the Indian side," Zhang said.

India on October 23 announced a set of proposals, including a bus service across the line of control (LoC) between Srinagar and Muzzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and restoration of cricketing and other sporting links.

Earlier, Zhang announced that Musharraf would pay a state visit to China from November 3 to 5 to meet with the new Chinese leadership for the first time.

PTI