ISLAMABAD, March 29: Pakistan on Monday confidently hoped that the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in their first scheduled formal contact under the January 6 Indo-Pakistan Islamabad Summit agreement , would take forward bilateral negotiations to resolve all their disputes on the basis of mutuality and reciprocity.

Foreign office spokesman Masood Khan in reply to a question at his weekly news conference said: "India and Pakistan will walk step by step along the long and winding road. This is our decision that we have to resolve the disputes between India and Pakistan on the basis of mutuality and reciprocity.

"And I think this spirit will permeate in our contacts and negotiations and I think we are looking forward to the negotiations between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan in May or June (this year).

"We remain hopeful and we agree with the (reported statement) made by Prime Minister Vajpayee that we will make mutual concerted efforts" towards the common objective that they had set, the spokesman added.

Responding to a question, the spokesman said although Pakistan had not been questioned formally by the International Atomic Energy Agency on the proliferation issue, it had remained in contact and was cooperating with the IAEA on the emergence of an underground proliferation network since Islamabad was also a member of the agency's board of governors.

The government would continue to offer its cooperation to the IAEA in the probe into nuclear proliferation and clandestine nuclear black market operations.

Answering a question about alleged presence of a Major in a PPP delegation visiting India, Mr Masood Khan said he was unaware of it, but added if that was a fact it might have been without the knowledge and information of the concerned authorities.