Vajpayee, who returned from Islamabad Tuesday, spoke to his cabinet colleagues for 80 minutes about his meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali on the sidelines of the now-concluded South Asian summit.

The meeting was attended among others by deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and top military brass.

Jamali, meanwhile, told India's private Aaj Tak television network that Islamabad was sincere in its efforts to normalise ties with nuclear-capable India.

"The government-to-government responsibility is to resolve the disputes and our concrete steps will have to be so exemplary that others can follow," Jamali said Wednesday.

Describing Musharraf as a "trend-setter", Jamali rejected suggestions that the latest rapprochement between India and Pakistan, which since 1947 have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, was a result of pressure from the United States.

"There is no pressure on Musharraf and Vajpayee, but there is facilitations that the two sides should talk. We want good relations between us," he added.

Premier Vajpayee's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, said the February talks would be "possible" only if cross-border militancy ended in Kashmir.

"We are happy to take note of the fact that India has maintained its consistent stand during their meeting with Pakistani leadership that sustained dialogue with Pakistan would be possible only after cross-border terrorism is brought to an end," BJP President Venkaiah Naidu said.