"We are committed to make an honest and sincere effort to resolve all outstanding issues," Singh told a conference in New Delhi.

The only condition was Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf should fulfil his vow to former Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee not to allow Pakistan's soil "to be used for purposes of cross-border terrorism," he said.

"If that commitment is observed in letter and spirit, then India will resolve all outstanding issues through dialogue including Kashmir," Singh said.

Kashmir has been divided between mainly Muslim Pakistan and majority Hindu India since they won independence from Britain in 1947. Both the nuclear rivals claim the Himalayan region and have fought two of their three wars over it.

New Delhi says hundreds of Islamic militants regularly cross over the border from Pakistan into Indian-controlled Kashmir to join a 16-year-old separatist insurgency against Indian rule in the region, a charge Islamabad denies.

Over 40,000 people have been killed since the revolt erupted in 1989, according to official figures. Separatists put the toll at between 80,000 and 100,000.

Singh, whose left-backed Congress government took power in May, also pledged to cooperate with the world community to prevent the spread of mass destruction weapons and tackle terrorism.

"India is committed to working with the world community to make it a safer place," he said.

India and Pakistan resumed bilateral talks in January after Vajpayee initiated a renewal of the peace process between the nuclear rivals.

After Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist government was ousted at the polls, the Congress government said it would press ahead with the peace process.

The Indian prime minister said New Delhi wanted peace in South Asia to enable trade to flourish in the poverty-struck region.

"South Asia must regain its pre-eminence in the global economy as a sub-continent of creativity and enterprise," he said. "It is in our shared interest to wage a joint struggle against poverty and ignorance."