Premier Shujaat Hussein told a meeting of foreign ministers from the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation that Islamabad was pursuing efforts to end differences with India, especially a decades-long boundary fued over the Himalayan Kashmir region.

I want to assure all members of SAARC -- and indeed the world -- that Pakistan is committed to pursuing peace with India, the new premier said.

Both India and Pakistan have had new prime ministers installed over the last two months. The new leaders said they would continue the now-on, now-off peace process that has seen many confidence-building measures from both sides over the last several months.

India's Foreign Minister Natwar Singh said India, too, is keen to continue the peace process to end five decades of mistrust and hostility with Pakistan.

I have come with a message of goodwill from the (Indian) government and the people of India, Singh said in a statement on his arrival in Islamabad.

A spurt of violence in Kashmir has marked Singh's arrival in Islamabad. On Monday, suspected Islamist rebels killed seven people in Kashmir in two separate incidents.

At least four members of a family were shot down by suspected Islamist militants in a raid on a policeman's house. The dead included the policeman, Abdul Gani, his wife and daughter-in-law and his 3-year-old grandson.

In another incident, three government ministers in the Kashmir government survived an attack that killed three people.

Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma and two other ministers survived an explosion in the Anantnag district. This was second attempt to assassinate Sharma in less than a week.

Analysts say the latest spurt in Kashmir violence is aimed at sabotaging ongoing peace talks between New Delhi and Islamabad. Kashmiri rebels want to be included in the peace process, a demand India rejected.

All eyes are focused on the bilateral meeting between Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri.

I shall do my best to use this opportunity to contribute further to creating an even better climate for taking forward our composite dialogue process, Singh said.

No major breakthrough is expected in the Singh-Kasuri meeting, the third in less than a month, except as another opportunity to build trust between the two neighbors who have fought three wars in the last 55 years.

The two ministers have already met twice in the past month, first on the sidelines of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue conference in Qingdao, China, and then on the sidelines of a regional forum of the Association Southeast Asian Nations in Jakarta.

Peace talks began earlier this year after months of hostility.

The two leaders are expected to further the peace process over the most contentious issue of the Kashmir boundary dispute.

On Monday, top diplomats from India and Pakistan met in Pakistan's capital city and discussed proposals on how to take the peace process forward and settle the dispute over Kashmir.

The two sides are planning more confidence-building measures, including plans for a new bus service between Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and Srinagar, capital of the Indian-administered Kashmir.

A bus service between Delhi and Lahore was established in 1999.

Both India and Pakistan claim Muslim-majority Kashmir, a third of which is under Pakistani control while the rest is controlled by India. The two have fought two wars over Kashmir and came close to fighting another war in 2002.

India accuses Pakistan of fomenting and financing a 15-year separatist Islamist uprising on the Indian side of Kashmir that has killed 38,000 people. Pakistan denies the charge, but openly says it supports the freedom struggle of Kashmiri people.

Meanwhile, India and Pakistan have put off the meeting of their foreign ministers by a few weeks.

Singh and Kasuri were scheduled to meet in New Delhi on Aug. 25 to review the progress of the Composite Dialogue Process. Officials said the ministerial meeting has been put off as Singh has pressing engagements, and the meeting instead is expected to be held in September.

However, meetings of other officials would go ahead as scheduled.

The two sides are to discuss promotion of friendly exchanges in New Delhi on Aug. 3 and 4. The military standoff on Siachen, the worlds highest and coldest battlefield, is to be discussed in New Delhi on Aug. 5 and 6, while the Sir Creek boundary dispute is scheduled for discussion in New Delhi on Aug. 6 and 7.

Talks on countering terrorism and drug trafficking are to be held in Islamabad on Aug. 10 and 11, followed by discussions on economic and commercial cooperation on Aug. 11 and 12.

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