The prime minister also said Pakistan, as a goodwill gesture, would release dozens of Indian fishermen held for illegally entering Pakistani waters. Both Pakistan and India routinely arrest each other's fishermen. 

Jamali said he favored a tiered approach to negotiations with India, with the ultimate goal being a summit between the nations' leaders. 

"It is my hope that India will seize the moment and put aside the acrimony of the past," he said at a news conference at his residence in the capital, Islamabad. 

The thaw comes ahead of talks Thursday in Islamabad between Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Pakistani leaders, including Jamali and Pakistan's military president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Armitage also will visit India. 

Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee launched the peace overtures during a visit to Indian-ruled Kashmir last week, saying he wanted talks with Pakistan. 

Jamali then called Vajpayee - the first top-level contact in more than two years. He has offered to go to India or have Vajpayee come to Pakistan for talks the India leader says will be "decisive." 

Pakistan and India declared themselves nuclear powers after detonating atomic bombs in 1998. They have not opened their arsenals to international inspectors and it is not known exactly how many weapons they have. 

But the core of their dispute is Kashmir, divided between Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India since the countries became independent from Britain in 1947, but claimed by both countries in its entirety. 

An insurgency in India's part of Kashmir seeking independence for the mostly Muslim region or its merger with Pakistan has left 61,000 people dead, most of them civilians, since it began in 1989. 

Pakistan wants a plebiscite by Kashmiris on both sides of the disputed border to decide whether a united Kashmir should join India or Pakistan. India refuses and also accuses Pakistan of supporting militants who cross into Indian Kashmir from Pakistan to launch attacks. 

Islamabad denies that, and Jamali was vague when asked what made him optimistic talks would succeed now where previous initiatives failed. 

Pakistani and Indian official resist the idea that outside pressure - especially from the United States - has sparked moves toward reconciliation. 

On Tuesday, Jamali reiterated Pakistan's solidarity with its "brothers and sisters" in Kashmir. But he also said the moment has come to tackle a "scourge" on the nation. 

"The entire international community is watching with hope and expectation," he said, adding that: "The Pakistani people need relief. That is my faith and my belief."