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ISLAMABAD,Tuesday (AFP) Pakistan's prime minister telephoned Indian leader Atal Behari Vajpayee on Monday in the first high-level contact between the rival countries since they came close to war last year.

Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali invited Vajpayee to Islamabad and said he would also like to visit India in the interests of peace and stability in South Asia, according to a Pakistani television report. An Indian official said the two leaders talked for more than 10 minutes. It was the first time they had ever spoken to each other.

"The prime minister of Pakistan called our prime minister. The talks lasted for 10 minutes during which the Pakistani prime minister thanked and conveyed his appreciation for the statements made by our prime minister in Srinagar and later in both houses of parliament," the spokesman told AFP. He was referring to comments made by Vajpayee during a tour of Kashmir last week, when he offered a "hand of friendship" to Pakistan. The comments were welcomed by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Official sources in New Delhi said the two prime ministers agreed to consider issues like restoring air and sporting links, which were broken off after India blamed Pakistan for a deadly attack on its New Delhi parliament complex in December 2001. "They agreed to move forward in bilateral relations," the sources told AFP.

"Prime Minister Vajpayee suggested economic cooperation, cultural exchanges, people to people contacts, civil aviation links and the Pakistani prime minister suggested reviving sporting links. They agreed to consider all these issues."

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