The security cabinet gave the go-ahead to liberalise consular and visa services -- often difficult procedures for people on both sides of the border due to prickly relations between the South Asian nuclear rivals.

The liberalisation of consular facilities will need an amendment to a 1982 India-Pakistan accord, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.

The amendment would be signed during Foreign Minister Natwar Singh's four-day visit to Islamabad, he said according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

The steps "are an amplification of measures that have been announced since October 2003," an Indian official said, referring to moves by India to improve ties.

Singh is to leave for Islamabad on Sunday for talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, capping a second round of dialogue between officials of both sides.

The Islamabad talks follow a meeting in mid-September between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York that ended without any major initiatives, contrary to some expectations.