Islamabad, March. 12 (AP): Pakistan and India resume face-to-face peace talks on Tuesday, with Islamabad expressing hopes that the South Asia rivals can make progress on improving relations between their militaries and easing visa restrictions for their populations.

Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon is expected in Islamabad for two days of talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Riaz Mohammed Khan.

The talks are part of a dialogue begun three years ago with the ultimate goal of solving the nuclear-armed neighbors dispute over Kashmir, the divided Himalayan territory over which they have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.

This week's talks could bring progress in areas such as relaxing visa restrictions and improving conditions for prisoners in each others' jails, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.

Pakistan had also floated proposals for ``strategic restraint,'' including both conventional and nuclear forces, she said, without elaborating.

Menon and Khan, the top career officials in the two nations' Foreign Ministries, last met in November in New Delhi, India's capital, when they restarted the peace process after it temporarily broke down over bombings in July on trains in the Indian city of Mumbai, which killed more than 200 people.

India accused Pakistan's intelligence service and a Pakistan-based militant group of involvement, which Islamabad denied.

Last week, the two countries pledged to share information to help prevent terrorism in their countries.

Pakistan, however, complains that India has not yet informed it about its investigation into the firebombing of a train travelling from India to Pakistan on Feb. 18. Most of the 68 people killed were Pakistanis.

While the peace process has not produced any major breakthrough on Kashmir, it has seen the two countries normalize diplomatic ties, resume severed transportation links, and made travel across the two countries' heavily militarized border easier.