ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's response to President Pervez Musharraf's Kashmir proposals as "positive."

Reiterating comments by Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri on Sunday describing remarks by Dr. Singh about being open to all new ideas on Kashmir as "positive," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said it reflected the view of the Government.

Refuting a statement from the Indian side that Pakistan had officially not given any proposals on Kashmir yet, Ms. Aslam said the proposals had been "shared" officially and were discussed at every level between the two countries — the two leaders, the Foreign Ministers, the Foreign Secretaries, and in the back channel. She said India had also made certain proposals.

"I will not go into the details — there were proposals from our side, there were proposals from their side, there have been discussions, and we have also been responding to their proposals," she said at the weekly Foreign Ministry briefing.

A report in a Pakistani newspaper that the Indian and Pakistani Foreign Ministers were about to sign an agreement on a new, liberalised visa regime was "incorrect," she said.

The two countries have been discussing changes to their 1974 visa agreement and a tourism agreement — under the present arrangement, there is no such thing as a tourist visa between India and Pakistan — but there was no "deadline" for these discussions, the spokeswoman said.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee would visit Islamabad next month to invite the Pakistani leadership to the New Delhi SAARC summit, she said.

He and Mr. Kasuri would also review the third round of the composite dialogue process.

The two sides would not be signing any agreements during Mr. Mukherjee's visit, she said.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Dr. Singh's response to General Musharraf's proposals would pave the way for a solution acceptable to Pakistan, India and the Kashmiri people.

Talking to journalists, he said Pakistan always wanted a solution that would be in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiris. Mr. Aziz stressed that such a solution could be found only through negotiations.

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