JOIN USJammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Sunday called for resumption of talks between India and Pakistan, saying there was no visible alternative to the dialogue process.
“While internally the democratic institutions need to be strengthened, on the external front we cannot visualise any alternative to reconciliation and dialogue between our country and Pakistan,” Sayeed said, addressing a joint convention of workers from Kupwara and Kargil here.
Hostility between the two countries has hit the people of Jammu and Kashmir the hardest and the incidents on the borders and along the Line of Control (LoC) should keep reminding the two countries the inevitability of sitting across the table to find a just and pragmatic solution, Sayeed said.
He said whatever the reasons for hardening of stances by Indian and Pakistani governments, there is no substitute to the reconciliatory policy adopted by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“The prevailing alarming situation along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir necessitates the urgency of reviving the process of reconciliation, sooner the better,” he added.
Sayeed said it is only through an emphatic exercise of vote that the state can safeguard its identity and politico-economic interests.
“With a decisive mandate on its back Prime Minister Narendra Modi shall have to revive the process of reconciliation to address the internal and external dimensions of the Kashmir issue,” he said.
Lauding the youth of the state, Sayeed said the heroic, humanitarian and compassionate spirit that has been on display in Kashmir during last month’s devastating floods reassures that, at critical moments, the people are able to come together in pursuit of a common purpose.
“While unprecedented floods ravaged many parts of Jammu and Kashmir, a new hope emerged out of this grave tragedy that the state’s enterprising young generation is bestowed with the ability to confront any challenge with great valour,” he said.
“Let’s all work together to build a new Jammu and Kashmir that we all will be proud of,” he said.