By IRNA
Islamabad : Leaders from the Indian and Pakistani- controlled Kashmir begin two-day talks in Islamabad on Saturday to discuss peace and stability in the region.
The talks would be organized by “Pugwash” an international organization that brings together scholars and public figures to work towards reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats.
President Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of the Indian Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti has arrived to attend the conference.
The proposed conclave will discuss problems of regional stability, initiatives that should be taken to promote peace and cooperation in the region, and make recommendations to the respective governments.
The leaders will focus of her presentation at the conference will be prospects of Kashmir in Indo-Pak relations.
They will give a detailed presentation on the Kashmir’s self-rule proposals at the conference.
Focus of the presentation at the conference would be “Prospects for Kashmir in Indo-Pak relations” among other topics to be discussed during the conclave.
Mehbooba Mufti met the PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad on Friday and later told reporters that steps should be taken to build on the progress made in the past four to five years through the peace process in Kashmir.
“Considerable progress has been made on the Kashmir issue and the time is appropriate to resolve the issue instead of putting it aside,” she said.
Apart from using the roads linking the two parts of Kashmir for trade and commerce, borders should be made “irrelevant”, she said.
Mufti also called for the joint utilization of resources of both parts of Kashmir “for the common good of the state as it was before 1947”.
She was hopeful that the governments of India and Pakistan would continue their existing Kashmir despite the change of government in Islamabad.
Pointing out the peace process launched under the BJP government had been continued by the Congress, she said, “This is a good policy adopted by the previous governments and I think it should be continued”.
Asif Ali Zardari told reporters Pakistan will move forward to resolve the Kashmir issue with India through a peaceful dialogue and the country’s new government will continue confidence-building measures initiated by the previous government.
“We are totally (involved) with Kashmir. We intend to solve the problem and not just to (do) shadow boxing for it,” Zardari said.