Setting the stage for External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh's four-day visit to Pakistan, the government on Friday approved a slew of measures to push the peace process including further liberalisation of the consular and visa services.

The timeframe for consular services would be made available within a span of three months and the list of prisoners will be exchanged by the two countries twice a year-- January 1 and July 1, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said after a 90-minute meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images].