Jammu, March 03: Days after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Asif Ali Zardari exhibited his willingness for being ready to sideline Kashmir(issue)for his countries friendship with India Mufti Muhammed Syed, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, has urged for the "substantial solution" to the problems of Jammu & Kashmir by addressing the legitimate aspirations of its people.
The senior Indian politician has reiterated the inevitability of stepping up and expanding the Indo-Pak peace process in this direction. He said that a decline in violence across the state should not be taken as the end of the problem of Kashmir.
Mr. Syed, who called on the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in New Delhi today, made it clear that the turn-around in the State's political and security situation should not be misconstrued as an indication of the problem having disappeared without addressing it."We should not mislead ourselves about brushing the issue under the carpet as was done on earlier occasions," a spokesman of Mr. Syed quoted him as having said while his meeting with Dr. Singh.
Mufti Syed further said that "with the stabilization of the political situation in Pakistan, both the countries must now commit themselves with political will to address all the dimensions of the problem in a manner that balances and promotes enduring political and economic stability in the region".
Expressing satisfaction over the commanding resurgence of democratic institutions in Pakistan, Syed has said the emerging positive political scenario in that country has offered an opportunity to amicably settle the external dimensions of the issue with the new dispensation for which strong foundations have already been laid through various confidence building measures. "The ongoing peace process between the two countries has reached a critical and positive stage and this historical opportunity must now translate into concrete measures for the betterment of the people in Jammu & Kashmir who have suffered immensely because of the hostility in the region” .
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both, and the two countries have fought three wars over control of the territory since they gained independence from Britain in 1947.
Sareer Khalid, 
Sareer Khalid
