Don’t delay resolution of Kashmir issue: Mufti
By IANSSunday, January 2, 2011
JAMMU - The resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue cannot be put into cold storage anymore without risking the future of the region, People’s Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said here Sunday.
Addressing political workers, Sayeed said: “The overwhelming opinion of the people in South Asia is in favour of a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue in order to realize the full development potential of the region.”
“It was heartening that the latest opinion polls conducted by two major media groups of India (The Times of India) and Pakistan (Jang) reflected an overwhelming sentiment for the resolution of the Kashmir problem,” he said.
“It was for the governments of India and Pakistan to rise up to the expectations of the people,” he said.
“The opinion poll only endorsed what had emerged as part of the changed discourse since the inception of peace process between the two estranged neighbours,” he said.
Calling for resumption of the stalled dialogue at the level of foreign ministers, Sayeed said the visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to New Delhi and his meeting with his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna should be facilitated by the two governments.
He said the interests and stakes of one-and-a-half billion people cannot be held hostage to the routine political developments within the democratic structures of the two countries.
Jammu and Kashmir, being the main victim of hostility, has the highest stake in the sub-continental peace process initiated in 2003, he said.
