By IANS,
Jammu : Jammu and Kashmir’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron and former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Sunday said there was a need for parties across the political spectrum to evolve a consensus on resolving the Kashmir issue with Pakistan.
Addressing a public meeting here, Sayeed said that strengthening of democratic institutions and emergence of a strong civil society in Pakistan was a good sign and the country has to respond to the prevailing positive atmosphere in the region
“There is no substitute to resolving the Kashmir issue that had dampened the immense economic potential of South Asian region for decades…. and people of Jammu and Kashmir were the worst victim of this problem,” he said.
“All sections of political opinion have to lend a helping hand in the process of solving Kashmir issue,” he said and appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the opposition Bharatiya Janta Party to respond positively to the prevailing situation.
“The peace process with Pakistan has to be rise above party politics and it has to be driven by long term goals of conflict resolution and cooperation,” he said,
“The biggest confidence building measure (CBM) which has had a positive effect on improving relations between the two countries was the opening of crossing points on the Line of Control (LoC),” he observed.