"The number (of staff) should be increased so that visa applications can be processed, as a liberal visa regime can only be possible with sufficient staff at each embassy," he told a press briefing in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial port city.

"Without visas the air and train services stand meaningless and they would be exposed to financial losses."

The South Asian neighbours reduced diplomatic ties and severed transport links after the December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament by gunmen India claimed were backed by Pakistan.

Under a peace process kickstarted by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee last April ambassadors have been reinstated, buses and flights are back on and a cross-border train service is set to resume this week.

Would-be commuters, however, have complained that the visa application process is so slow that some have missed out on travelling over the border.

The nuclear rivals agreed last week to resume dialogue, stalled since the last attempt failed at Agra, India, in July 2001, from February.

Details of next month's talks are still being worked out but Kasuri said they would probably be held between foreign secretaries.

"The resumption of talks at secretary level is likely," the minister said.

Meanwhile, Indian transport officials yesterday opened two-day talks with their Pakistani counterparts to extend an agreement on a recently revived cross-border bus service, an official said.

Both sides are considering increasing the fares arices less than the cost of the products.

The US side requested formal consultations with China on December 23 and under China's World Trade Organization agreements, the country has 90 days to reach a resolution.

If the two sides fail to reach agreement, the US can unilaterally impose a 7.5 percent growth cap on exports of the three goods.