Islamabad: Pakistan today (Apr 3, 2004) welcomed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's remarks calling for peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues between the two countries and said the recent statements from Indian leaders were constructive and positive.

"It's a good statement. Tenor and tune of statements coming from India has been positive and constructive," Foreign Office Spokesman Masood Khan told reporters.

Vajpayee stated yesterday that there was no way to resolve problems other than through peaceful means.

Khan said the whole efforts and dialogue should be substantive, "should produce results and help us resolve all outstanding issues".

Asked to comment on a reported Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) "Vision 2004" in which it claimed Kashmir as India's integral part, Khan said it was not grounded in fact, as Kashmir was an issue that needed to be resolved.

The reported vision document should not have any bearing on the upcoming talks between the two countries as was evident from the statements by Vajpayee and Advani, he said.

Stating that Pakistan would participate in talks "earnestly and sincerely," he said the technical level talks on the bus service between Muzzaffarabad and Srinagar will be held in Islamabad on April 8 and 9.

Asked whether Pakistan agreeing to run a bus service between two sides of Kashmir would affect its stand on Kashmir, he said while offering the confidence building measures (CBMs) in November last year, Prime Minister Jamali had offered to host the talks, but had stated that it would be without prejudice to Pakistan's position on Kashmir.

Technical-level talks were the first engagement and would move forward, if it produced results, he said, adding the foreign secretaries level talks held in February in Islamabad had identified agenda items, which included the expert level talks on nuclear CBMs in May.

He said the two countries already had a MoU between them, which elaborates nuclear and some missile CBMs and some CBMs are already being observed by the two sides.

Khan also welcomed US move to accord Major Non-NATO Ally status to Pakistan. "Parameters of what will be available to Pakistan under the arrangements are being discussed between Islamabad and Washington," he said while replying to a question on what Pakistan was going to get out of it.

"Pakistan and the US have multi-dimensional relationship. We have been cooperating with each other in diverse fields including economic and commercial areas. Our defence relationship is also growing," he said.