NEW DELHI, April 24: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said on Thursday he was waiting for a response from Pakistan on his offers to resume talks on vexed bilateral issues, such as Kashmir.

“Let us see how Pakistan responds,” Mr Vajpayee told parliament’s upper house in reference to his earlier statements that India was willing to “extend a hand of friendship” to Pakistan.

“Stopping cross-border infiltration and destruction of terrorist infrastructure can open the doors for talks,” he reiterated.

He also said he “hoped a new beginning could take place between the two countries”.

Mr Vajpayee’s comments came in a briefing to the house on his weekend visit to occupied Kashmir, where he made the talks offer last Friday.

The premier’s dove-like remarks coincided Thursday, however, with fresh allegations by India that Pakistan was sending militants into held Kashmir.

“There is no credible evidence to suggest that Pakistan has made sincere efforts to stop cross-border terrorism and infiltration into India,” Junior Defence Minister Chaman Lal Gupta told parliament’s lower house.

“Despite the Pakistan president’s commitments to end infiltration into India on a permanent basis, infiltration across the border continues on a significant scale.

“There are also indications to suggest that the level of infiltration may increase ... when the snow over the mountains in Kashmir melts.

The defence minister said Indian forces were gearing up to stem such militant flows into occupied Kashmir.—AFP

Jawed Naqvi adds: India’s opposition parties told Prime Minister Vajpayee on Thursday that they supported his peace moves with Pakistan, but urged closer consultation as think tanks close to him began etching out a likely roadmap ahead, some with official briefing.

Opposition parties in the upper house of the parliament heard out Mr Vajpayee’s explanation for his latest peace overtures as he repeated much of his speech in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Diplomats said Mr Vajpayee’s peace moves, though loaded with familiar conditionalities, had still ushered in a departure from the “pre-emptive strike mode” of his foreign ministry a few days ago.