NEW DELHI, April 20: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee appeared to have won crucial support from his Bharatiya Janata Party on his latest peace offer to Pakistan with BJP president Venkaiah Naidu describing it as a bold gesture.

“BJP hopes Pakistan responds positively to the Prime Minister’s bold gesture of extending a hand of friendship, paving the way for meaningful talks between our two countries to begin soon,” Mr Naidu told reporters, referring to Vajpayee’s comments in Srinagar on Saturday.

Vajpayee had “rightly emphasised that sincerity of Pakistan’s response depends on whether it ends its policy of cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mr Naidu said.

On Friday Naidu was quoted as opposing talks with Pakistan, saying “time is not yet ripe till Islamabad stops encouraging militants.”

The BJP turnabout appears to have the support of Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishan Advani, who is reportedly looking forward to an important visit to the United States in June at the invitation of Vice President Dick Cheney.

Several newspapers quoted Mr Vajpayee as offering during his Kashmir visit to send an official to Pakistan to set the agenda for talks immediately if Pakistan so wishes.

“I will dispatch a senior MEA official to Pakistan tomorrow to finalise the agenda for talks, if it (Pakistan) announces today its decision to stop cross-border infiltration and shut down training camps for terrorists,” The Hindustan Times quoted him as saying.