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Activists Say Afghanistan Crisis Holds Hope for Kashmir
SRINAGAR, Indian-occupied Kashmir, Dec. 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The end of the conflict in Afghanistan will focus global attention on Kashmir, a top independence activist leader said Wednesday, calling on India and Pakistan to seek a permanent resolution to their dispute over the Himalayan region.
"While the dust is settling in Afghanistan, there also seems to be positive changes in Pakistan, which will help resolve the issue soon," said Yasin Malik, a senior member of Kashmir's main independence alliance, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"There is no doubt that after September 11, the world realizes that burning international conflicts like Kashmir should not be left to fester."
Malik called on Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to revive the dialogue process initiated at a landmark leadership summit in July.
The summit had ended in impasse as both sides differed on how to approach the Kashmir issue - the cause of two full-scale conventional wars between the South Asian nuclear rivals.
Meanwhile, Malik stressed that the Kashmiri people had to be consulted during the dialogue process. "Kashmiris cannot be bystanders anymore," he said. "Any peace process will have to involve the people of Kashmir in a meaningful, direct and effective way. It is our destiny at stake and it is our motherland in question."
Malik, who returned from the United States last week after undergoing brain surgery, said the international community also had a role to play, especially Washington, which "for the first time in its history", has good relations with both India and Pakistan, reported AFP.
"Maintaining and building these relationships will give the U.S. a better chance at taking a crack at Kashmir and helping all three parties to come to the negotiating table," said Malik.
Pakistan welcomes U.S. involvement in the Kashmir dispute, but India is bitterly opposed to any third-party intervention on the grounds that Kashmir is part of its sovereign territory.
India controls the southern two-thirds of Kashmir and Pakistan the remainder.
On Tuesday, the main independence alliance in Indian-occupied Kashmir said it would consider whether to talk to a new team set up by the Indian government, BBC's online news service reported.
Reports in the Indian press say a three-man team has been established to hold peace talks with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference before the election campaign begins in the state next year.
Violence in Indian-held Kashmir has escalated since the Indian government called off a ceasefire in May because of what it said was "continuing militancy".
Confrontations between the security forces and Kashmiri self-determination seekers have spiraled during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. On a typical day around 10 people are killed.
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