NEW DELHI, Nov 28: In a further boost for South Asian peace hopes, India’s Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajapyee said he hoped to meet his Pakistani counterpart in January as a ceasefire between the two countries’ armies continued to hold for a third day on Friday.

Despite the truce, however, violence struck occupied Kashmir, with police saying two freedom fighters were gunned down in the Poonch district on Friday as they allegedly tried to cross from Azad Kashmir.

Mr Vajpayee said he was keen to meet Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali on the sidelines of a South Asian summit in Islamabad in January.

“My programme of going to Pakistan is being prepared and I will meet everyone there ... I will be happy if Jamali meets me,” Mr Vajpayee told reporters in Lucknow late Thursday.

Mr Vajpayee’s visit to Islamabad for a Jan 4-6 Saarc summit is seen as important to advancing the peace process. The summit will also include the leaders of Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives.

The Indian government had earlier said it would not talk to Pakistani leaders until the cross-border infiltration was halted.

Mr Vajpayee shook hands with President Gen Pervez Musharraf during the last Saarc summit in Kathmandu in January 2002 but there were no direct bilateral talks.—Agencies