NEW DELHI, Jan 22: The Indian government and a faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference leadership on Thursday agreed that all forms of violence in the strife-torn region must end , a joint statement issued after the historic negotiations said.

The two sides, during two-and-a-half-hours of talks in Delhi, also agreed to hold another round of talks by the end of March, it added. "The delegation stressed that an honourable and durable solution should be found through dialogue.

It was agreed that the only way forward is to ensure that all forms of violence at all levels should come to an end," said the statement, issued after Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani and Home Minister held talks with a five-member team of the APHC.

"It was (also) agreed that today's meeting was the first significant step in the dialogue process initiated by the government of India and a step-by-step approach would lead to resolution of all outstanding issues relating to Jammu and Kashmir.

"The deputy prime minister endorsed the All Parties Hurriyat Conference's view that the role of the gun should be replaced by the sound of politics. The APHC delegation was committed to the enlargement of the dialogue process to cover all regions of Jammu and Kashmir and the concerns of all communities," the statement said.

The deputy prime minister observed that "it was the government's foremost concern to safeguard the security of all people and to ensure against the violation of their rights. He also agreed that a rapid review would be undertaken to examine the cases of those held in detention".

Later, Mr Advani told a news conference that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would meet on Friday the Kashmiri leaders who took part in talks with the Indian government on Thursday.

"After the meeting was over and when we were about to depart a request was made (by the APHC leaders) that they would be extremely grateful to make a courtesy call on the prime minister," Mr Advani said.

"I spoke to the prime minister in Pune and he would meet them tomorrow (Friday)," the deputy premier said. The APHC delegation was headed by Maulana Abbas Ansari and included Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Lone and Umar Fazal Haque Qureshi. Thursday's talks mark the first official contact between the two sides since August 2000. -AFP