SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has advocated the restoration of telephone links with various cities of Pakistan saying it would boost the relations between the two sides of Kashmir.

Speaking to a business delegation of the Young President's Organisation (YPO) here, Mr. Sayeed said he would take up the matter with the Union Ministry of Telecommunications. The delegation comprised members from both India and Pakistan who spent four days in Kashmir.

Communication improving

"As communication links are opening up between India and Pakistan and contact at the people's level on both sides is on the increase I believe that the telephone connectivity will further improve this process," he said adding that the course of peace and friendship adopted by the two countries had improved the atmosphere in the sub-continent including Jammu and Kashmir.

The telephone link between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan had been snapped after militancy erupted in the region. But incoming calls from Pakistan are not barred. He reiterated that the dialogue is the only course to resolve even the most complicated issues. The two sides have realised this after exhausting all other options including war.

He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir were impatiently waiting for the moment when the links would be restored and people could meet each other. Confidence building measures taken by the two countries were a positive development helping a great deal in bringing about an atmospheric change.

"Daily service needed"

The Chief Minister appreciated Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for looking at the reopening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road from a human angle. He said he wanted a daily bus service on the road instead of the present fortnightly one. The road should also be used for trade.

The Chief Minister said there was no readymade solution to the Kashmir problem and one could be reached only through an evolutionary process.

The Chief Minister, in response to a query on Kashmiri Pandits, said their migration from the Valley was a blot on the age-old local tradition of co-existence. His Government was taking steps, including the construction of cluster accommodation, for their return.

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