PM, General break the ice with warmth and poetry

Musharraf spoke to Singh after Delhi, earlier in the day, had requested postponement of the expert-level dialogue on the nuclear confidence building measures.

That all was well was confirmed by Musharraf in Islamabad today. He said he would call Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to build on the momentum for peace. ‘‘I am very glad it was an extremely positive message that he (Singh) gave me, a desire to have… to resolve all disputes with Pakistan and to have excellent relations with Pakistan. We reciprocate that feeling,’’ he said.

‘‘This is the way forward, we want to resolve our disputes, and the core issue is Kashmir, of course, we must resolve it.’’

Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan said there was no concern in Islamabad over the nuclear talks being postponed at India’s request and also welcomed a statement by new Foreign Minister Natwar Singh.

‘‘I think that the statement given by Mr Natwar Singh is very encouraging. He said that India would like to stick to the timetable of talks between the two countries and I think that’s a very positive development,’’ Khan said.

The talks were due to be held on May 25 and 26 in New Delhi. No new date has been fixed yet.

‘‘We do need to maintain the momentum of confidence-building and dialogue between India and Pakistan because this process was put together with a great deal of statesmanship and hard work,’’ Khan said. — (with Reuters from Islamabad)