"When (Atal Behari) Vajpayee offered his hand of friendship to Pakistan in April last year, it took the whole world by surprise," Sinha told the Financial Times newspaper in an interview.

"People in India and Pakistan would not like to think this (peace process) was the result of any third party pressure -- and it is not even true."

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf met on the sidelines of a regional summit in Islamabad earlier this month and decided to restart stalled bilateral talks on all disputes including Kashmir from February.

The meeting came eight months after Vajpayee offered a "hand of friendship" to Pakistan, thawing months of chill between the two South Asian nuclear rivals.

A slew of reciprocal peace initiatives have since been announced by both sides including a November ceasefire along the disputed Kashmir border.

On Thursday, a passenger train between the two countries resumed service after a gap of two years.

The historic success came after two years of unnerving relations following a militant attack on India's parliament in December 2001 that brought the two countries close to war. Conflict was averted after months of intense western diplomacy led by the United States.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell claimed credit for the peace process.

"We have been working with the Indians and the Pakistanis for almost two years, from a period of we're-going-to-nuclear-war-this-weekend to, you know, this is a historic change," Powell told the US News and World Report, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI).

"And so I think a lot of these seeds that were planted are now germinating and you'll (see) us harvesting crops."

Pakistan Prime Minister Zafarraula Jamali too hinted that "some countries" had helped in the process but refused to divulge the names.

ANI adds: Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali Wednesday said that Indo-Pak talks on Kashmir and other issues could be held next month.

He was talking with newsmen in Beto Jatoi in Dadu. The News also quoted him as saying that people involved in the suicide attacks on President Musharraf would be brought to justice.

Commenting on his recent visit to Afghanistan he said he expected it to result in better ties between the two countries.

He also expressed confidence about his government completing its five-year tenure. Replying to another question, he said the Khokhrapar border crossing would be opened soon.