New Delhi, Mar 7: Jammu and Kashmir CPI(M) leader Muhammad Yusuf Tarigami Tuesday said India and Pakistan must work towards cooperative development for restoring lasting peace in the region.

Tarigami, who is attending the three-day international Pugwash conference on Kashmir in Islamabad from March 10, said the neighbours must sort out their differences on Kashmir in the larger interest of humanity.

“It will be tragic if the two countries will not work towards cooperative development for peace,” Tarigami told UNI.

He expressed the hope that the leadership of both the nations will achieve a breakthrough in the ongoing peace process on resolution of vexed issue.

“The people of Jammu and Kashmir have been the victims of the hostility between India and Pakistan and both must find common areas for forward movement to ensure peace in the entire subcontinent,” he added.

Tarigami said he will raise the “human aspect” of the Kashmir issue at the conference.

Several separatist leaders are scheduled to attend the meet on Kashmir along with National Conference (NC) President Omar Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and prominent Shia cleric Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari.

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Yasin Malik and People’s Conference Chief Sajjad Ghani Lone have already left for Islamabad to attend the conference.

Former Hurriyat Chairman Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat is already in Pakistan and would attend the meet. Peoples Democratic Forum (PDF) Chairman and state Consumer Affairs Minister Hakeem Muhammad Yaseen is also expected to attend the meet.

Moderate Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was scheduled to attend the meet, pulled out today as he has an acute fracture in his right ankle.

So far, it is not clear whether breakaway Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani will attend the conference or not.

This will be first platform where several Kashmiri separatists will discuss Kashmir with mainstream political leaders.

The conference has been organised by Pugwash conference, a European think-tank engaged in finding solution to contentious issues in South Asia, at Islamabad from March 10 to 12.

Almost all top separatist leaders had refused to attend Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s roundtable on Kashmir here on February 25, citing lack of preparation by the Centre as the reason.

Prior to the roundtable, the secessionist, including the Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat, Yasin Malik-headed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and Sajjad Lone, had held one-on-one meetings with the Prime Minister.

The conference would look at recent proposals such as self-rule, steps needed to accelerate communication between the two sides as well as exploring prospects of peace. UNI

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