www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

Politicians from Indian, Pakistani-controlled Kashmir hold first-ever conference
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-20 15:03

Leading politicians from the Indian and Pakistani sides of divided Kashmir held their first-ever talks Tuesday amid peace efforts by the South Asian rivals to settle differences that have kept them from normalizing relations, AP reported.

Participants in the one-day conference in New Delhi included Farooq Abdullah, a former chief minister of India's portion of Kashmir, and Sardar Muhammed Abdul Qayyum Khan, a former head of the government on the Pakistani side.

"It is for heart-to-heart talks among the Kashmiris," Qayyum told The Associated Press before the conference. "I have been trying for two decades for an intra-Kashmiri dialogue which did not happen."

Qayyum said there would be "sincerity, honesty, frankness, and talks without reservations. That's what I expect."

Separatist leaders Abdul Ghani Bhatt and Sajjad Lone also participated in the meeting, which was expected to produce confidence-building measures to help India and Pakistan normalize ties and increase contacts between people living on either side of the Kashmir divide.

The South Asian neighbors began a peace dialogue last year to resolve their differences, including the dispute over Kashmir.

The Himalayan region is divided between India and Pakistan but both claim it in full and have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since they gained independence from Britain in 1947.

Islamic insurgents have staged attacks in Indian-held Kashmir since 1989, seeking independence for the Muslim-majority region or its merger with Pakistan.

India accuses Pakistan of fomenting the insurgency by funding and training the separatists, a charge Islamabad denies. Pakistan says it only offers them diplomatic and moral support.

Close

North Korea to drop nuclear weapons development Clinton Global Initiative Summit Schwarzenegger seeks re-election in 2006

Today's Top News     Top World News
N. Korea agrees to abandon nuclear weapon efforts         PBOC: Economy too much export-driven         UN warned on abuse of intervention right         White House invites China for G-7 talks         172 affected in Fujian cholera outbreak         Baidu loses first round of copyright dispute	North Korea demands nuke reactor from US       NASA planning moon launch for 2018       Schroeder seeks coalition pacts with rivals       al-Qaida takes blame for London blasts       Israeli seeks closer ties with Arab world       British soldiers free two from Iraq jail