By IANS,
Jammu : Jammu and Kashmir’s opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Sunday hailed the decision of Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to accept the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to watch the cricket World Cup semifinal between the two countries at Mohali March 30.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti termed the decision as “a positive development for restoring lasting peace in south Asia”.
“The way the Pakistani premier has reciprocated gesture of his Indian counterpart is a clear indication that both the countries want to resume the highest level dialogue process which had been stalled since 2008,” she said, in a statement released here.
“The maturity shown by leadership of both the countries is reflection of an assertion by the forces of the peace and reconciliation for normalising relations between two neighbours of south Asia,” she said.
Mehooba Mufti also reiterated that dialogue is the only way to solve all problems and peace between India and Pakistan is in the interest of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Welcoming the decision of the Indian government to grant multi-entry visas of six-month validity to people from Pakistan-administered Kashmir visiting Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP chief demanded this facility should not only be confined to the divided families.
“Residents of both sides of Kashmir should be allowed to cross the LoC (Line of Control),” she demanded, stressing the need of removing other impediments to ensure the smooth flow of people and goods across the border.
“The biggest impediment is non-availability of communication between people of both sides,” she observed and asked the government to restore communication links between people of both sides of the LoC.