Thapa said he had "successful" talks with leaders of Bhutan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka about resolutions to be passed at the January 4-6 summit in Islamabad.

"I got full assurances from them on agreements on the alleviation of poverty, the control of drugs and the control of terrorism," Thapa told reporters at Kathmandu airport.

The seven-nation South Asian summit was due to be held in January 2003 but host Pakistan postponed it after India hesitated to confirm its attendance.

India and Pakistan last week reached a ceasefire over their borders in divided Kashmir and Monday agreed to resume flights between the two countries from January 1.

"This has generated a very good atmosphere," Thapa said, adding that Pakistan International Airlines would "soon" be able to resume flights to Nepal.

Thapa is the outgoing chairman of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation because Nepal hosted the last summit in January 2002.

The prime minister said he planned visits to Bangladesh and Maldives, the other two members of the regional bloc, before the Islamabad summit.

Earlier Nepalese Prime Minister Surya Bahadar Thapa held talks with Pakistan's leaders ahead of next month's South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit, an official said.

Thapa, the current Saarc chairman, met President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarrulah Jamali after arriving for a two-day visit, a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement.

Thapa met Musharraf "for an exchange of views on bilateral and Saarc-related issues," the spokesman said.

"The president (Musharraf) emphasised that the Saarc summit should take place on a regular basis ... and should not be held hostage to the whims of any one country," he said.

Jamali briefed Thapa about the arrangements for the summit in Islamabad from January 4-6.