ISLAMABAD, Sept 27: Highlighting the significance of the first interaction in New York last week between President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Foreign Office emphasized here on Monday that their joint statement was 'historic and significant' as it promised to "look into all possible options" for a negotiated settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Spokesman Masood Khan confirmed that the two leaders had held exploratory conversation in their one-to-one meeting and broken new ground which offered "a fresh help line towards the Jammu and Kashmir (issue) settlement".

The spokesman asserted that while all such top engagements between the two countries in the past had been 'absolute monologues' addressed to their respective national constituencies, the New York meeting stood out by bringing under discussion all "possible (peaceful) options for solution" and indicating that both leaders would turn their talks into productive engagement on Kashmir.

He said the New York engagement was the first between them since the change of government in Delhi and Mr Singh was making his first acquaintance with the president of Pakistan.

He said that during the informal conversation between the two leaders on the sidelines of the General Assembly session and the opening dialogue lasting about an hour, they touched upon some very important outstanding issues, taking a significant step forward after failures over a long period of time.

But he advised against a hype or despondency over the results of the New York meeting. When asked if any progress was made in New York on demilitarization on Siachen glacier, the spokesman confirmed that being an important issue, it did come under discussion. But, he said, he could not elaborate as he was not a privy to the one-to-one conversation.

Asked how could statements made by AJK President Maj-Gen (retired) Sardar Mohammad Anwar and some other important Azad Kashmir leaders, besides antagonistic discussions on the state-owned electronic media, be reconciled with the efforts of President Musharraf and Prime Minister Singh to make peace, the spokesman stressed the need to create a conducive atmosphere for the leaders to succeed in removing obstacles in the way of Kashmir settlement and peace between the two countries.

He said that confidence-building measures between the two governments were aimed at improving the climate for the composite dialogue. It was also a fact that free expression of views and freedom of the press were also in full play on both sides. He hoped that efforts to create a salutary climate for the success of talks would continue to be made.

AJK President Anwar is reported to have said in Washington on Sunday that while former Indian premier Vajpayee "wanted to resolve the core issue of Kashmir", the present Indian government and the ruling Congress party appeared disinterested in the issue.

While the spokesman affirmed the need for improving atmosphere for the success of talks, he said he had not read the Azad Kashmir president's statement reportedly made at a meeting in Washington about the time the New York talks were held.

However, he recalled that the Siachen issue had been discussed by the two sides in 1988-89 when their military experts were close to signing an agreement on 'relocation of troops' on both sides.

In August last year, the defence secretaries of Pakistan and India, at their meeting in Delhi, had also agreed upon redeployment of troops, the details of which remained to be decided by the military experts of the two sides and the matter rested there.

Answering questions about statements and counter-statements on the alleged cross-border terrorism, the spokesman claimed that the interlocutors were sincere in resolving the issue and were striving to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir problem.

That was the reason, he said, their "tone is upbeat" this week, but cautioned that despite round-the-clock talks held in Delhi and hard work on preparing ground for the New York meeting, the effort had remained so far "an exercise in cul-de-sac" and "we haven't reached the destination". "But we continue to move towards resolution of all Pakistan- India issues, including J&K," he assured.