China has welcomed the easing of tensions between India and Pakistan.

"China hopes the two sides seize this opportunity and continue guiding the situation toward dialogue," Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri during a telephonic conversation on Friday.

Li said China supported the measures that Pakistan and India had taken to improve bilateral relations.

He also stressed that China would continue to work to ease the situation in south Asia along with the international community, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Kasuri told him that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and the government had always stood for dialogue and a peaceful settlement of disputes.

They also exchanged views on bilateral ties, the developments in Afghanistan, the Korean peninsula and Iraq.