NEW YORK (AFP) - The leaders of India and Pakistan agreed after peace talks to explore "possible options for a peaceful negotiated settlement" of their Kashmir dispute.
The move was mentioned in a joint statement read by President Pervez Musharraf after talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, their first since Singh became premier after a surprise election victory in May.
Kashmir, which is divided between Pakistan and India, has been the cause of two of their three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947.
The two also agreed to seek to implement "confidence building measures" and also discussed the possibility of building a gas pipeline running through Pakistan to India.
Musharaff said "I hope this augurs well for the future of Indo-Pakistan relations."
Singh declared: "I sincerely believe today is an historic day. We have made a new beginning."
The statement said the talks were held in a "constructive and frank spirit" and that both had reaffirmed their commitment to pursuing the dialogue between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Musharaff and Singh held a one-on-one meeting for just over an hour at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, where both have been attending the UN General Assembly.
They were later joined by their foreign ministers for enlarged talks.
The two leaders had originally planned to issue separate statements and the joint communique was another sign of their efforts to overcome differences.