SRINAGAR, Aug 31: Kashmir’s moderate separatist alliance All Parties Hurriyat Conference has expressed its pleasure over improving relationship between India and Pakistan, who both claim Kashmir, the disputed region being at the heart of decades of animosity between the two hostile neighbours.
“The party welcomes any process between India and Pakistan aimed to stabilise and improve their bilateral relations,” the Mirwaiz, who is also the chief priest of Kashmir, told a gathering of worshippers at Jamia Masjid during Friday prayers.
The separatist leader was commenting on the meeting between India’s Prime Minister Manmoham Singh’s meeting with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in Tehran, Iran on Thursday.
He, however, said he was wary of the “futility” of such meetings between the heads of the two nuclear rivals, which have fought at least three wars over Kashmir in the last 60 years, and has asked the two countries to “give shape and direction” to their ongoing negotiations to make them “result oriented”.
“It is obvious that the ritual meetings between the leaders of the two countries have upset the Kashmiris. Kashmir dispute is the main thing coming in way of improving their ties. So, Kashmir should be resolved in a time-bound manner,” he said.
“Without inducting genuine Kashmiris leadership in the talks, the process would o0nly be rendered meaningless”.
Mirwaiz cited the examples of dialogue in Tashkant, Shimla and Agra between the two south-Asian rivals. “These agreements have yielded nothing. Participation of Kashmir leadership in the dialogue process is unavoidable,” he said.
