Britain has backed the new Pakistani Government's decision to talk to militant Islamists but it has cautioned that reconciliation could be possible only with those who were willing to give up violence.

“We support reconciliation both in Pakistan and Afghanistan but it has to be done on a clear bottom line,” David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said at the end of a two-day visit to Islamabad.

Britain and the United States have opposed peace deals in the past with pro-Taleban militants in the lawless tribal regions. The deals allowed al-Qaeda to regroup in the region and to step up attacks on Nato forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Thousands of Pakistani troops have been engaged in fierce fighting with the militants in the borderland without much success. Pakistan decided to start fresh talks with the militants after a series of setbacks and when the militants started attacking Pakistani military personnel and installations in Pakistani cities.

More than 300 soldiers were killed in attacks by militants last year and there had been increasing incidents of soldiers surrendering without fighting. There has been a cessation of violence since Yousuf Raza Gilani, the Prime Minister, called for talks with those who renounced violence. Mr Miliband said that Britain backed Pakistan's “multi-pronged” strategy to deal with militancy through political and economic means as well as security measures. He added, though, that non-violence should be the cornerstone of reconciliation.

As a part of the peace talks Pakistan freed an Islamic militant leader whose supporters have been fighting Pakistani forces in the northern Pakistan district of Swat.

Sufi Mohammed was serving a six-year jail sentence for sending thousands of Pakistani militants to Afghanistan during the American-led invasion there.

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