Islamabad: US Secretary of State Colin Powell today (Jan 7, 2004) telephoned Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to "personally" convey the appreciation of the Bush administration for the Indo-Pak peace initiatives undertaken during the SAARC (South Asian Association fro Regional Cooperation) Summit.

According to a Foreign office statement, Powell spoke to Musharraf and expressed "happiness" over the decision to resume Indo-Pak composite dialogue after a meeting between Musharraf and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the sidelines of the Summit here.

Powell also called up his Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri yesterday (Jan 6) and praised the leaderships of India and Pakistan for launching the peace initiatives and for agreeing to resume the dialogue process next month to discuss all outstanding issues including Jammu and Kashmir.

Powell said the Bush administration would continue to take interest to encourage India and Pakistan to pursue the process of dialogue in the interest of promoting peace, security and economic development in South Asia, the statement said.

Foreign Ministers of Britain and China also phoned Kasuri congratulating him on the decision by Vajpayee and Musharraf to resume talks.

Welcoming the Indo-Pak move, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw expressed the hope that the breakthrough would take forward the process of normalisation of ties between India and Pakistan.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also called up Kasuri and welcomed the new thaw in Indo-Pak ties.