Musharraf invites Sonia to visit Pakistan

The invitation was extended when Musharraf spoke to Sonia, whose party leads the 12-party United Progress Alliance, over telephone Tuesday evening, two days after he had called up Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

During the five-minute conversation, Musharraf congratulated the Congress chief on her party's victory in parliamentary elections. He "assured her of Pakistan's commitment to peace between the two countries and requested her to give support to the dialogue process," said a spokesman of Indian external affairs ministry.

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Sonia thanked Musharraf for the greetings and pointed out that Congress had backed the previous Atal Bihari Vajpayee government's efforts in this regard, the spokesman added.

The Pakistan president recalled his telephonic talks with Singh and the Indian premiere's 'positive support' to the dialogue process.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri also spoke to his new Indian counterpart Natwar Singh over phone on Tuesday and congratulated him on assuming office and discussed on bilateral relations.

The foreign ministers expressed "their determination to continue and further expedite the present process in India-Pakistan relations," the spokesman said.

The telephonic conversations came close on the heels of postponement of India-Pakistan official-level talks on confidence building measures on nuclear issues, he added.