Ahead of its three-day parleys with India starting Monday to discuss the modalities for a composite dialogue, Pakistan on Sunday said it will approach the official-level talks with a 'positive frame of mind.'

Joint Secretary in External Affairs Ministry Arun Kumar Singh and Under Secretary Deepak Mithal arrived in Pakistan on Sunday. They will hold talks with Jalil Abaas Jilani, director for South Asia in Pakistan's Foreign office.

This would be followed by talks between Indian Foreign Secretary Shashank and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Khokhar on Wednesday.

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Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said he hoped both sides would stick to the spirit of the joint statement issued on January 6 after a meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad.

The Indian foreign secretary told PTI in Delhi: "We are going to start the process agreed to in the joint statement. That will mean looking into modalities for the dialogue process and see what meetings should be organised in the next few months to keep up the dialogue on a sustained basis."

The talks would mainly focus on the agenda and the structure of the proposed composite dialogue to resolve all bilateral issues including Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said.

"We hope that this process will help steer away our two nations from tensions and confrontation and [take the two
sides] towards peaceful settlement of all issues, especially Kashmir which is the key issue," he said.

Kasuri said there was a great deal of optimism about the outcome of the talks as both Vajpayee and Musharraf demonstrated a "great deal of statesmanship."

The two countries are also expected to expand the scope of the composite dialogue to include confidence building
measures to prevent nuclear proliferation, accidental firing of nuclear weapons and better trade ties.