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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

IHK APC calls for ‘effective dialogue’ with Pakistan

* Meeting decides to send delegation to Singh to ask for his political initiative for IHK
* Omar says vested interests working to disturb communal ethos of the state

By Iftikhar Gilani

NEW DELHI: An all-parties meeting, called by Indian-held Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to find a way out of the current crisis, called for an “effective dialogue” with Pakistan as well as starting a political initiative with the Kashmiri leadership.

Except the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), representatives of 10 political parties who attended the meeting, decided to send a delegation to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ask for his political initiative for IHK.

“The meeting also decided that an all-parties delegation would call on the prime minister and invite his attention to various problems faced by the state. The meeting also urged the Indian government to strengthen the on-going peace process through internal and external dialogue,” said a resolution adopted at the end of the meeting. The main opposition People’s Democratic Party and Jammu-based Panthers Party had boycotted the meeting. The PDP president said that she thanked the Indian PM and home minister for their invitations and that it was “painful” for her to tell Manmohan that she could not attend the meeting, as the IHK government was not doing anything on the ground.

Appealing to the Indian PM to end the crackdown on civilians, she continued to blame the Omar Abdullah-government for letting things deteriorate to this extent.

Vested interests: In his concluding remarks, Omar Abdullah said the state was passing through a difficult phase, adding that some vested interests were “working overtime” to disturb the communal ethos of the state. “I took over at a difficult phase when Indo-Pak relations were at their lowest ebb. However, I’m hopeful things will become normal,” he added.

Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

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