NC hails announcement of Indo-Pak dialogue, raises Kashmir

National Conference (NC) today welcomed the announcement of a comprehensive dialogue process between India and Pakistan and said it was equally important to simultaneously address the internal dimensions of the Kashmir issue by engaging with all the stakeholders.
"The announcement of a comprehensive dialogue between the two countries is a positive development. There is no alternative to dialogue and political engagement and the people of Jammu and Kashmir stand to benefit from peace and cordiality between India and Pakistan," NC spokesperson Junaid Mattu said.
"People of Jammu and Kashmir are the worst sufferers of the tension between India and Pakistan and conversely can be the biggest beneficiaries of peace. We hope the comprehensive dialogue will start a process of structured engagement over the Kashmir issue," Mattu said.

He said NC's Central Working Committee (CWC) had recently passed a resolution calling upon New Delhi to address both the internal and external dimensions of the issue.
"The resolution had unequivocally stated that any proposed resolution of the Kashmir issue shall be to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. We reiterate this resolution and stand while welcoming the resumption of the comprehensive dialogue," the NC spokesperson said.
He said it was vital for both India and Pakistan to politically engage with "internal stakeholders on both the sides of the Line of Control (LoC)".

The process of any successful dialogue between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue has to include various shades of opinion, leadership of political entities and fora on both sides of the LoC, representative as well as ideological, he said.

"The exclusion of the primary stakeholders of the Kashmir issue on a parallel track would render any such dialogue incomplete and incite a sense of political omission and marginalization within Kashmir.
"We strongly advocate New Delhi acknowledges the need to address both the internal and external dimensions of the Kashmir issue with equal emphasis. This is imperative for sustained peace in the region," Mattu said.
He said the party hopes the resumption of the dialogue between the two countries will lead to peace on the LoC and the International Border, giving a sense of relief and respite to people living in the frontier areas.

Mattu also called for efforts to improve cross LoC process of travel and trade as an expression of confidence within Jammu and Kashmir.
"We hope India and Pakistan consider opening additional travel and trade routes to facilitate people-to-people contact across the Line of Control and also review the existing travel and trade arrangements with an intention to liberalize these processes further," the spokesperson said.