NEW DELHI, Dec. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- India and Pakistan Monday agreed to restore from Jan. 1, 2004 direct air links and over flights, according to the Press Trust of India.

    The decision to resume air links was taken after a four-hour-long meeting between civil aviation officials of the two countries,Indian Director General of Civil Aviation Satinder Singh was quoted as saying.

    A joint statement issued after the meeting said "the two sides agreed to resume simultaneous air links and over flights with effect from Jan. 1, 2004 on a reciprocal basis."

    The statement, which comes a day after Pakistan President PerezMusharraf announced Islamabad's decision to lift the ban on Indianflights over its airspace and to restore air links, said the agreement completed the operationalization of the proposal made byIndian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in May this year for resumption of civil aviation links between the two countries.

    "Both sides agreed to hold further discussions to update the existing bilateral air services agreement at a mutually convenientdate," it said.

    Sources said that the bilateral discussions are likely to be held later this month. Enditem