'Pak. response encouraging'

By Vinay Kumar

NEW DELHI, DEC. 3. The former All-Party Hurriyat Conference chairman, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, sees Pakistan's response of exercising restraint along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir as a ``positive and encouraging development'', which can be used to create a conducive atmosphere for initiating the peace process.

``The common factor in India's initiative, Pakistan's response and our reaction is the stress on the need for a dialogue,'' the Mirwaiz, who arrived here today told The Hindu. He said the Hurriyat Conference had always maintained that the Kashmir issue was political in nature and it needed to be resolved that way ``without military means''.

He expressed the hope that the ceasefire offer and Pakistan's response would pave the way for involvement of all the three parties in the talks in a positive way. ``After Pakistan's response, the ball is now in the court of the Indian Government.''

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