NEW DELHI The Gujarat quake tragedy emerged Friday as the catalyst for the first direct contact between the leaders of India and Pakistan in well over a year, AFP reported.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was expected to receive a condolence telephone call later Friday from Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.

According to an official from the prime minister's office, Musharraf would be calling Vajpayee to "convey his country's condolences (over the January 26 quake) just like other world leaders have done."

"No time has been fixed as of now ... it will have to be at the mutual convenience of both sides," the official added.

Earlier a report by the Press Trust of India (PTI) had said Vajpayee would be calling Musharraf.

The call, if it takes place, will mark the first direct contact between the two rival leaders since Musharraf came to power in a coup in October 1999.

The Gujarat quake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, ravaged a huge area of the prosperous western state and the death toll has been estimated at anywhere between 25,000 and 100,000.

Pakistan has so far sent two plane loads of tents and blankets for the quake victims.