ISLAMABAD, May 23: President Pervez Musharraf called new Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on telephone on Sunday when both leaders vowed to carry on dialogue to settle all issues between the two countries, including the Kashmir dispute, a foreign office spokesman said.

The 20-minute call, which spokesman Masood Khan said was made in the evening, was the first top-level contact between the leadership of two nuclear neighbours since Mr Singh was sworn in as the Indian prime minister on Saturday following the surprise election victory of his Congress party.

This was also the first joint affirmation of the two sides to continue pursuing the dialogue process agreed between President Musharraf and former Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee during a regional summit in Islamabad in January.

"Both leaders expressed the desire for continuation of dialogue to resolve all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir," Mr Khan told Dawn about Musharraf-Singh talk.

"They expressed their strong desire for peace and harmony in the region as well as development of economic and commercial ties between Pakistan and India," he said.

The spokesman said President Musharraf congratulated Mr Singh on becoming prime minister and wished him success. The president also conveyed his greetings to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, whose refusal to become prime minister paved the way for Mr Singh to take the office.

A diplomatic source said there had been no such contact yet between Mr Singh and Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who left for a five-day visit to Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening.

The telephone conversation between the president and the Indian prime minister came hours after Islamabad announced the postponement - at New Delhi's request - of official-level talks between the two countries set for May 25-26 to consider nuclear confidence-building measures.

New Delhi had suggested the postponement owing to its pre-occupation with the formation of the new government. AFP adds:In New Delhi, Indian official sources confirmed President Musharraf called Prime Minister Singh to greet him on his election as prime minister and express hope to "deepen" the peace initiative between the two neighbours.

Earlier, Gen Musharraf in a message of congratulations to the Indian prime minister on Saturday said: "We in Pakistan welcome your government's resolve to improve relations between our two countries.

"I wish to assure you of our sincere commitment to a just and peaceful solution of all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir," the foreign ministry quoted him as saying in his message.

Mr Singh said on Thursday that he was committed to continuing the nascent peace process begun in February when the leaders of India and Pakistan resumed a formal dialogue after a two-and-a-half-year suspension.

His Pakistani counterpart, Zafarullah Jamali said on Saturday that Islamabad was confident that under Mr Singh's leadership bilateral relations "will continue to develop and the process of composite dialogue for the resolution of all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir will be productive."

Mr Singh also received calls of congratulations from British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin, they said.