Ceasefire at LoC, IB providing relief for people: Mufti

Jammu, Aug 5 (UNI) Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Patron, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said a ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) and the international border, from Kathua to Kargil, has been in place and is working to the great relief of the people of these areas.

Addressing a day-long convention of the party's provincial office bearers here today, the Sayeed said peace and progress in the subcontinent have, probably, been never as critically linked with stability in the state as they are today.

Mr Sayeed emphasised that the on going peace initiative is markedly different from the ill-fated ones launched by the two countries from time to time over the past few decades.

''Its contours match the imperatives of the existing global scenario unlike in the past when rigidity and inflexibility refused to yield space to pragmatism and malleability,'' the former Chief Minister said.

Mr. Sayeed said a number of confidence building measures (CBM) on various fronts have either been set in motion or are in the pipeline and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has time and again reiterated his commitment to carry ahead the confidence building process.

''The positive impact of these CBMs on the ground in the state is distinctly visible. The constituency for peace and reconciliation is becoming larger and louder in the State'', he said.

He said the momentum of the peace process has strengthened popular belief among the people in its envisioned objectives.

UNI