Related: India offers Treaty of Peace, Security, Friendship to Pakistan

    ISLAMABAD, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan said on Friday that the Indian prime minister's fresh peace offer was "positive" toward the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and other issues.

    Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday offered Islamabad a treaty of peace, security and friendship while inaugurating a new bus service between the two countries.

    "We need bold steps by the leadership of both countries to resolve the outstanding issues. We also need sincerity and flexibility in order to overcome the legacy of the past," said Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam.

    She said in a statement that Pakistan has always stated that the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue could release the full potential of the people of South Asia to make progress and fight poverty, disease and ignorance.

    Pakistan has always emphasized the need for building confidence and resolving problems especially the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, the spokesperson said, adding that the Kashmir dispute had bedeviled both relations for a long time and "has been at the heart of conflict, mistrust and hostility between the two countries." Enditem