ISLAMABAD, Feb 15: Pakistan on Tuesday welcomed the visit of Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and said that in the Islamabad-Delhi dialogue "every opportunity is a new opportunity and every day is a new day until we resolve the issues between Pakistan and India, particularly the issue of Kashmir".

When asked at his weekly news briefing whether he expected a breakthrough in the Kashmir issue during Mr Singh's three-day visit, the foreign office spokesman said the visit was 'very important' in fixing the future course of composite dialogue.

Spokesman Masood Khan said the two sides recognized that bilateral relations had improved considerably when compared to what they were just two years ago. But, he stressed, there was general perception here that the two sides had not made any real, tangible beginning so far in dealing with the issues of Kashmir and peace and security. Yet, he agreed that both sides had moved forward in confidence-building measures at all levels.

About the proposed Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus service, he expressed the hope that Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and his Indian counterpart would arrive at some positive decision at their talks on Wednesday.

Pakistan, he said, would expect New Delhi to drop its insistence that travellers should carry passports, something that would give an impression that the Line of Control between the divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir was a permanent border.

Islamabad has suggested that the travel could be undertaken on permits issued by respective local authorities in the disputed state as was in practice in the early 1950s.

Mr Khan pointed out the areas where the two sides had made a good beginning. He said he believed that the Indian cabinet had given green signal to the authorities concerned to open negotiations not only on the India-Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project but also on similar plans involving Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. He said these were good indications in the South Asian developments, adding "let us see what Mr Natwar Singh has to say about these things".