Hopes revive in Kashmir valley with summit level talks
Pakistan Times Kashmir Desk

SRINAGAR: In occupied Kashmir, most of the Kashmiris hope that the India-Pakistan summit will help in further forward movement in relations between the two countries.

A write-up in Kashmir Times, quotes Muhammad Ismail, a local teacher, saying that, "We know that India and Pakistan can not solve Kashmir issue overnight. It is a complicated problem and would take time. But for a solution the two countries will have to maintain friendly relations and show some forward movement as well,"

"We are hopeful of a breakthrough. Future seems brighter for us. We have suffered in silence for so long and now we want that both leaders should take tangible and bold steps. Though we realize that miracles cannot happen overnight, we are still hopeful that both Dr Singh and Gen Musharraf will be able to break the ice", said Rauf A Punjabi, President Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the write-up adds.

Twenty-five lakh strong fruit growers' community has been championing the case for allowing access to the markets in Pakistan by using Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road. "We expect that India-Pakistan leaders will formally allow us to export fruits to Pakistan wherefrom those can be easily ferried to Gulf and Central Asian countries", said Bashir Ahmad Bashir, secretary New Kashmir Fruit Association.

The write-up points out that, media in occupied Kashmir has given wide coverage to the Indo-Pak summit level talks as it is a hot topic apart from cricket here. Almost all-vernacular newspapers particularly Urdu dailies carried the lead stories and analysis about the summit level talks.●