ISLAMABAD : Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sent a New Year's card to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari with his "good wishes", amid strained ties between the neighbours, according to officials.

The message is apparently the first exchange between the two leaders since Singh accused Pakistan of using terrorism as an "instrument of state policy" and said the Mumbai attackers had the support of "official agencies" here.

The card has a white dove -- often used as a symbol of peace -- on the front and is signed by Singh and his wife with the message, "With all good wishes for the new year," Zardari's spokesman Farhatullah Babar told AFP.

Ties between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have been frosty since the attacks on Mumbai in late November, which left 174 people dead, including nine of the 10 gunmen.

Pakistan has confirmed that the lone surviving attacker captured by India was a Pakistani national. New Delhi has blamed the attacks on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Officials here said while Singh's card would not lead to an immediate thaw in chilly bilateral ties, it was a welcome development and had been seen as an expression of a desire for peace in the region.

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir. Both countries control the Himalayan region in part but claim it in full.

- AFP/vm