PM hails Ceasefire offer

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 25. The Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, the Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, and the Congress (I) today welcomed the declaration of unilateral ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir by pro-Pakistan militant outfit, Hizbul Mujahideen.

While addressing the BJP's Parliamentary Party meeting, Mr. Vajpayee reiterated that the Government was willing to talk to anyone within the Constitutional framework.

Though it could be too early to predict anything, the Prime Minister's offer for talks is expected to firm up support to the Government's peace initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir. The Union Home Ministry last night had welcomed the announcement, saying any move pointing towards peace was welcome. But it also added that the Government would make its assessment and watch the situation. In a television interview on the eve of the Kargil ``Vijay Diwas'', Mr. Fernandes said that for more than two decades, Kashmiris had suffered immensely because of militancy and Pakistan sending mercenaries into the Valley.

Describing the ceasefire as a ``positive sign'', he said that it was indicative of disillusionment of the Kashmiri people with Islamabad's policy of engineering disturbances.

Welcoming the announcement, the Congress (I) spokesperson, Ms. Margaret Alva, expressed the hope that the Government would take this opportunity to find an amicable solution to the Kashmir problem on the basis of the 1975 Indira Gandhi-Sheikh Abdullah accord.

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