Kashmir issue should be win win situation for all: Sinha

Srinagar, Sep 20: Expressing satisfaction over the resumption of the composite dialogue process between India and Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt General (Rtd) S K Sinha said the solution to the Kashmir issue should be a win-win situation for people of the two countries.

The Governor exuded confidence that bilateral dialogue would usher in an era of peace in Jammu and Kashmir.

''We can work out a situation where the people of India including Kashmir and Pakistan can unitedly fight the common enemy of poverty, disease and ignorance,'' Gen Sinha said.

Asserting that there were no short cuts to finding a solution to the vexed issue, he urged a European Union type mechanism where borders would become irrelevant and the Line of Control (LoC) become ''Line of Peace and Prosperity'', he said.

''One should not be in a hurry; it needs patience even if it takes couple of years,'' the Governor told an EU delegation at a meeting at Raj Bhavan.

The Governor said the time has come when economics should take precedence over politics and hostilities of the past replaced by joint endeavour for economic prosperity in the sub-continent.

Expressing the hope that a consensus would soon be arrived over the issue in India, Gen Sinha said Islamabad might be in a tight spot specially with issues like insurgency in Waziristan and Baluchistan and sectarian violence plaguing the country.

He said that peace has to be given a chance as people of the two countries have been yearning for it.

Elaborating upon the political situation in the strife-torn state, Gen Sinha said Jammu and Kashmir enjoys a far higher degree of ''self-rule'' than any other state of the country. ''What could be a better indicator of democracy than even the separatists are being provided adequate security and other facilities,'' he asked.

He said those who advocate self-rule for the state are the same people responsible for choking democracy in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

''Self-rule and demilitarisation are more required across the border than here,'' he said.

He expressed the hope that Pakistan will match its words in action, while referring to the support to various militant groups from across the border.

He said Pakistan has not responded positively to the peace overtures made by India.

''However, conditions today are different with an upsurge in the goodwill among the people of the two countries,'' the Governor said.

The EU delegation posed a volley of questions to the Governor on the prevailing situation in the valley, development and measures under way to bring about peace in the state.

UNI