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.

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