In a joint statement, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did little more than to reiterate their commitment to measures agreed on during their two previous meetings.

They included the peaceful settlement of "all pending issues," including the key territorial dispute over divided Kashmir.

"We agreed all possible options for a peaceful negotiated settlement in this regard should continue to be pursued in a sincere spirit and purposeful manner," said the statement, which Musharraf read to reporters.

The two men also reaffirmed a pledge not to allow terrorism to impede the peace process.

During talks with US President George W. Bush late Tuesday, Singh had said that Pakistan still controls "the flow of terror" into Indian Kashmir.

One of India's key demands to settle the dispute has been to end "infiltration" or cross-border movement of Muslim rebels from Pakistan-administered Kashmir to the Indian-administered zone.

After Musharraf read the joint statement, Singh pronounced himself "very satisfied" with the outcome of the meeting. Both men then left the press briefing without taking questions.

The talks, which were held in a New York hotel on the sidelines of the UN summit of world leaders, began Wednesday at 8:00 pm (0001 GMT) and moved into a working dinner.

The two men finally emerged with their joint statement shortly after midnight (0400 GMT).

Musharraf also said he had invited Singh to visit Pakistan and that the Indian leader had accepted.

The statement welcomed the progress made within the framework of the so-called "composite dialogue" between the two sides, including promotion of trade and economic relations and the exchange of prisoners, which began earlier this month.

The prisoner releases would continue "on a humanitarian basis," the leaders said.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan formally launched the peace process in January 2004. A flood of feel-good measures followed, including a historic bus service across the divided region of Kashmir and the resumption of sporting ties.

But progress has been sluggish on central issues, especially the fate of Kashmir itself. The Himalayan territory, divided between the two nations but claimed in full by both, has sparked two of their three wars since independence in 1947.

The peace dialogue covers eight issues ranging from Kashmir to boosting trade and cultural ties and setting up safeguards to prevent an accidental nuclear exchange.

The last time the two leaders met -- to coincide with an India-Pakistan cricket match in New Delhi in April -- they jointly declared the peace process "irreversible".

Just hours before his talks with Singh in New York, Musharraf had addressed the UN summit, saying he wanted the dialogue with India to be "result oriented" and to initiate "a new era of peace and cooperation" in South Asia.

"Our nations must not remain trapped by hate and history, in a cycle of confrontation and conflict," Musharraf said.

He also appealed to the international community Wednesday to refocus attention on finding a quick end to the Kashmir dispute.

More than 44,000 people have been killed since the outbreak of the Muslim insurgency in Indian Kashmir in 1989.

India accuses Pakistan of training, arming and funding the insurgency. Islamabad denies the charge but admits extending moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris seeking independence from India.