A solution to the 56-year-old dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir was essential for peace in the region, Musharraf told Pakistan Television's News Night programme broadcast Wednesday.

"We have to move forward on Kashmir. We have to resolve it. If we don't move forward, I am not in the process. They know that," the Pakistani leader said.

"I told everyone, absolutely unambiguously, if you think I am here to sell Kashmir, you are talking to the wrong man."

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since independence from Britain in 1947. The nuclear armed neighbours came close to a fourth war in 2002 until intense US-led international diplomacy de-escalated the tension.

Since a gesture of friendship by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in April last year, the two countries have restored full diplomatic ties and resumed train and bus services.

They also re-established sporting links and an Indian cricket team this month opened its first full tour of Pakistan in more than 14 years.

Musharraf and Vajpayee met in Islamabad in January and, after a lapse of more than two years, foreign secretaries of the two countries resumed dialogue in February to try to resolve outstanding issues, including the Kashmir dispute.

Musharraf said the foreign ministers of both countries would meet in August to review the progress in the dialogue process.

Musharraf has said before that Kashmir was key to resolving differences between the two nations, but India has says it is just one issue to be dealt with.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed in full by both.

The Indian zone of Kashmir has been rocked by a 14-year old insurgency which has claimed thousands of lives since 1989.

India accuses Pakistan of fueling the revolt. Pakistan denies the charge but backs the Kashmiri movement as a "legitimate struggle for self-rule".

PTI adds: Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani yesterday said that message by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that he would not be a party to the peace process with India if there was no forward movement on Kashmir issue was due to "domestic compulsions".

"I think Musharraf's statement stemmed out of domestic compulsions but so long as he sticks to a course decided at the Secretary-level meeting, there should be no problem," he told reporters at Himmatnagar in Gujarat during his 'Bharat Uday Yatra'.

Hoping that differences between the two nations would be resolved through dialogue, Advani said the joint statement signed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Musharraf in Islamabad was a landmark event. At the meetings between the Joint Secretaries and Foreign Secretaries of the two countries it was decided on how to proceed for a dialogue, he said.

"We should pursue the same direction," he added.

Pointing out that Indo-Pak problems, including the Kashmir issue, can be solved through talks, Advani said India has proceeded towards resolving bilateral differences with optimism.

Asked whether Pakistan's message was due to the recently acquired "major non-NATO ally" status from the US, Advani said, "We are concerned at it. We reacted strongly after it was done".

Replying to a question whether there is a possibility of ceasefire with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, he said "there is nothing as such at the moment".