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UNITED NATIONS, Friday (AFP) The leaders of India and Pakistan will meet in New York for talks aimed at building some momentum in the sluggish peace process between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours.

The highly anticipated meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly will be the first since Singh took office in May following his Congress party's surprise election victory.

There are few expectations of any dramatic breakthrough, with both sides painting the talks as more of a getting-to-know-you opportunity.

But there are hopes that it will help spur on a process that has made little progress since Musharraf met with Singh's predecessor Atal Behari Vajpayee in January. "I am very hopeful and optimistic of results," Musharraf told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. "The time to heal wounds is now. The faster the better."

In his speech to the General Assembly earlier in the day, Singh reaffirmed India's commitment to "carry forward this dialogue to a purposeful and mutually acceptable conclusion."

The attempt at a rapprochement was initiated in April 2003 when then Indian prime minister Vajpayee extended a symbolic "hand of friendship" in a speech that startled even his close aides.

Since Musharraf and Vajpayee met on the fringes of a South Asian summit more than eight months ago, the two sides have completed just one round of formal talks between the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers earlier this month.

That meeting failed to produce any fresh initiatives, especially on the bitter dispute over Kashmir, which is divided between Pakistan and India and has been the cause of two of their three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947.

The United States, which spearheaded diplomatic efforts that brought the two countries back from the brink of a fresh conflict in 2002, said Thursday that the two leaders had to confront "serious outstanding issues" in efforts to improve ties. "We are very encouraged that we now have open, honest, candid discussion between the two sides on these very complex issues," US Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters in New York.

Musharraf said he looked forward to "developing an understanding" with Singh, and noted a potential point of bonding in their place of birth. India is adamant that peace talks should follow an incremental path, covering all issues of bilateral contention rather than concentrating solely on Kashmir. Musharraf, however, insisted that marginalising Kashmir by treating it as just another thorn in the bilateral relationship was avoiding reality. "Yes, let's move forward on everything," he said. "But let's not sideline an issue which is the core issue and which we have fought wars over."

While stressing the need to build up some momentum on the peace process, Musharraf also warned against allowing the talks to buckle under the weight of short-term expectations. "I don't think we are going to sit there and discuss options and then come to a solution. That will follow subsequently," he said. "More importnat is to judge each others intentions."

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