Chandigarh, August 16
The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mr Mufti Mohd. Sayeed, today reiterated his stand that the Centre must involve all parties, including those who did not believe J&K’s accession to India was complete, in talks to resolve the issue of Kashmir.

“The ongoing peace process is irreversible. We (the two countries) have exhausted all options and the only option left now is peace. But, there is no readymade solution. All parties must be part of the dialogue process. The Central Government must talk to them, including the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), he told mediapersons at a Meet-The-Press organised by the Chandigarh Press Club, here.

Saying that all sides, including Pakistan, have finally realised that dialogue, and not gun, can help them resolve the issue, Mr Sayeed hoped the APHC will enter the dialogue process soon.

Talking about his desire to step down from the post of Chief Minister in November at the completion of his three-year term - Mr Sayeed’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Congress had decided to have their nominee as Chief Minister by rotation for three years each, Mr Sayeed said that he had already conveyed his decision to the Congress high command.

“I am committed to the agreement between the two parties. It is for the Congress to choose its candidate for Chief Ministership,” he added in response to a question.

Asserting that J&K had witnessed a sea change in ground conditions in the past three years under his rule, the Chief Minister claimed that despite killing of innocents and continuing violence, normalcy was being restored in the valley.

“People have faith in the government. Development activities are continuing. Incidence of human rights violations has come down. All these are encouraging signs,” he added.