Date:22/02/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/02/22/stories/2006022201471500.htm

National

`Declare J&K free trade zone'

Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR: People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti has called for declaring Jammu and Kashmir a `free trade zone' so that the State could achieve self-sufficiency, which was imperative for long lasting and dignified peace.

At a party convention in Budgam, Ms. Mufti said the "self-rule concept" could address balanced development and political stabilisation in all the three regions of the State. Consensus on the `self-rule concept' should be evolved not only in Kashmir, but also in the entire subcontinent, she asserted.