India's top foreign ministry official said after two days of meetings with his Pakistani counterpart that they must tackle the "human side" of the row over the Himalayan region, which the two sides hold in part but claim in full.

Pakistan said it would consider the plan, the latest in a series of confidence-building measures between the South Asian neighbours arising from a slow-moving peace process begun in January.

"We put forward a specific proposal for a possible family reunion or meetings among relatives" at the Line of Control, the de facto border in Kashmir, Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told reporters in Islamabad.

"We have, after checking with our authorities, designated five places where the family reunions would take place on designated days under joint security arrangements by both sides," he said.

Contact between the two zones of Kashmir is currently non-existent. A bus service between Srinagar, the Indian-held summer capital, and Muzaffarabad in the Pakistani sector remains stalled because of a row over visas.

The dispute over scenic Kashmir has sparked two of the three wars between Pakistan and India since independence from Britain in 1947. It continues to dominate relations and sent them to the brink of nuclear war in 2002.

The current peace process has brought the two countries to their closest for years but they remain deadlocked over Kashmir, with Pakistan in particular accusing India of intransigence.

Pakistani foreign secretary Riaz Khokhar told a press conference Tuesday that Islamabad would consider India's proposals, saying he was aware of a similar arrangement between North and South Korea.

"We are going to examine them and we will see whether these are consistent with the dignity and honour of the Kashmiri people."

The first day of the talks between Saran and Khokhar focused on overall security issues and confidence-building steps while the second concentrated on Kashmir.

"There has been a recognition that this is obviously very complex issue. We will need some time to deal with it but in the meantime we try and address the human aspect of the issue," Saran said.

"I go back with a renewed sense of optimism. I believe there are many areas where we can work together and the future is bright."

The reunion plan was the only major breakthrough arising from the talks, although a joint statement issued by both sides said they had made progress.

It was the third time they had discussed Kashmir in the current peace dialogue, following rounds of talks held in June 2003 then in September, foreign office spokesman Masood Khan told AFP.

The joint statement said the foreign secretaries had "narrowed their differences" on a plan to give advance warning of ballistic missile tests, which India and Pakistan failed to agree on at a meeting earlier in December.

Officials also focused on key topics including drug trafficking, maritime issues, the Kashmir bus link and a second rail connection between the two countries.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf last week said he would show flexibility over Kashmir if India did the same but Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said peace talks would not include any redrawing of boundaries.

In their bid to promote confidence, Pakistan and India recently restored road, rail and air links, while politicians, lawyers, actors and peace activists from each side have made visits across the border.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.