Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said today he saw Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as someone he could talk to, but time was needed for them to reach agreement over Kashmir.
Asked in an interview with state-run Pakistan Television how he viewed General Musharraf, he said: "I think we can talk to Musharraf, those talks can lead to some result, that I also hope.
"It is obvious that to take things forward time is needed. Talks should be held regularly," Mr Vajpayee added later. "Pakistan has been repeating its position and we have been repeating our view; the world has been saying, 'you people get together and resolve your issue among yourselves'. This will
take time."
His comments follow an offer by General Musharraf to meet India halfway on Kashmir.
In an interview last month, Gen Musharraf said Pakistan was ready to set aside a 50-year insistence on a UN-backed referendum over Kashmir and explore other solutions to a dispute which has cost tens of thousands of lives.
The Indian Prime Minister arrived in Pakistan earlier today for the first time in nearly five years.
He is due to attend a South Asian summit seen as a historic opportunity for the rivals to build on peace moves.
Mr Vajpayee shook hands with his Pakistani counterpart Mr Zarafullah Khan Jamali as he got off his plane in Islamabad, less than two years after the two nuclear-armed nations went to the brink of war over the disputed Kashmir.