Hope new govt carries forward peace initiatives: PDP

Opposition PDP today expressed hope that the new government at the Centre would carry forward the peace process started by Atal Bihari Vajpayee government with Pakistan in the interests of the people of the region.
"I hope the new government at the Centre would carry forward the peace process with Pakistan in the interest of the people of the region," PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said.
"The subcontinent's turbulent history makes it imperative for both India and Pakistan to resolve their mutual conflicts and forge a strong alliance towards achieving the desired level of human development and economic prosperity," he said.

The PDP patron was addressing election rallies in Noorabad and Dooru assembly segments here in south Kashmir's Anantnag Parliamentary constituency which will go to polls on April 24.
Sayeed's daughter and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti is fighting the electoral battle against sitting MP and joint candidate of NC and Congress, Mehboob Beg, from here.
Sayeed said the onus now lies on the new government in Delhi to consolidate the peace initiatives, launched by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from Srinagar in April 2003 and carried forward by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh through cross-LoC Confidence Building Measures.

"I am confident of positive action, at the highest level, towards consolidation of the Indo-Pak peace initiatives around Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

The former chief minister said peace and progress in the subcontinent has never been linked critically with the stability in the state as it is today.
"Obviously, the future would now solely be determined by the region's political leadership on how they cope up with the challenge amid fast-changing equations," he said.