ID :
17636
Mon, 09/01/2008 - 09:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/17636
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India may consider opening of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad traderoute
New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) A unilateral opening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad trade route has been suggested to the Central government by Jammu and Kashmir Congress Chief Saifuddin Soz as a "gesture of goodwill" to the people of the state.
Soz, also Union Water Resources Minister, conveyed the suggestion to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the backdrop of recent demands in Kashmir for opening of the route for establishing cross-LoC trade.
Mukherjee was not averse to the idea, sources said.
Soz said he will not be surprised if in near future the
road is opened for trade by India unilaterally.
The issue of opening the route for trade has been raked
up by the separatist Hurriyat Conference and some other groups
in Kashmir during recent weeks.
Opening cross-LoC trade on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad
route has been on the agenda of Indo-Pak talks for over three
years, with New Delhi pressing for it but failing to persuade
Islamabad.
In fact, India has offered to export 22 items, including
shawls, carpets and fruits on the route duty-free.
As solution formula, Soz is also understood to have
favoured inclusion in the Amarnath Shrine Board of a member of
the Muslim (Malik) family that had discovered the holy cave
shrine about 160 years ago.
This, he feels, would preserve the secular credentials of
the Amarnath pilgrimage.
Soz, in a conversation with a key party functionary from
the state, has emphasised the importance of dialogue to
resolve the current crisis that has engulfed the state.
"These fires, that have created acrimony all around have
to be doused," he is understood to have said.
Favouring an immediate end to the communal divide between
Kashmir and Jammu, Soz has noted the enormous hardships and
financial losses worth crores of rupees incurred by people of
both the provinces of the state.
Appreciative of Governor N N Vohra's decision to open
dialogue with the protesters, he welcomed the success of the
parleys and hoped there would be no adverse reaction in
Kashmir.
He feels the "rumour" that Peoples Democratic Party
(P.D.P.) is not going to accept the proposed agreement being
worked out with agitators in Jammu for resolution of the land
issue would be "unfortunate" as it would mean that the party
"will be part of the problem rather than part of the
solution".
"Electoral and political benefits should never be allowed
to blind us to an extent that we do not respond to the
ultimate human values," Soz told his colleague. PTI
Soz, also Union Water Resources Minister, conveyed the suggestion to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the backdrop of recent demands in Kashmir for opening of the route for establishing cross-LoC trade.
Mukherjee was not averse to the idea, sources said.
Soz said he will not be surprised if in near future the
road is opened for trade by India unilaterally.
The issue of opening the route for trade has been raked
up by the separatist Hurriyat Conference and some other groups
in Kashmir during recent weeks.
Opening cross-LoC trade on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad
route has been on the agenda of Indo-Pak talks for over three
years, with New Delhi pressing for it but failing to persuade
Islamabad.
In fact, India has offered to export 22 items, including
shawls, carpets and fruits on the route duty-free.
As solution formula, Soz is also understood to have
favoured inclusion in the Amarnath Shrine Board of a member of
the Muslim (Malik) family that had discovered the holy cave
shrine about 160 years ago.
This, he feels, would preserve the secular credentials of
the Amarnath pilgrimage.
Soz, in a conversation with a key party functionary from
the state, has emphasised the importance of dialogue to
resolve the current crisis that has engulfed the state.
"These fires, that have created acrimony all around have
to be doused," he is understood to have said.
Favouring an immediate end to the communal divide between
Kashmir and Jammu, Soz has noted the enormous hardships and
financial losses worth crores of rupees incurred by people of
both the provinces of the state.
Appreciative of Governor N N Vohra's decision to open
dialogue with the protesters, he welcomed the success of the
parleys and hoped there would be no adverse reaction in
Kashmir.
He feels the "rumour" that Peoples Democratic Party
(P.D.P.) is not going to accept the proposed agreement being
worked out with agitators in Jammu for resolution of the land
issue would be "unfortunate" as it would mean that the party
"will be part of the problem rather than part of the
solution".
"Electoral and political benefits should never be allowed
to blind us to an extent that we do not respond to the
ultimate human values," Soz told his colleague. PTI
