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T V Parsuram in Washington
The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front has lauded the United States Secretary of State Colin Powell's endeavours towards reducing tensions in south Asia and promoting peace in Kashmir during his recent visit to India and Pakistan.
In a statement issued by its central diplomatic bureau, the JKLF said that Powell's message to New Delhi and Islamabad showed that the United States was 'looking to both India and Pakistan to take steps that begin to bring more peace to the region and ensure a better future for the Kashmiri people'.
The JKLF welcomed Powell's statement in Delhi that 'Kashmir is on the international agenda' and viewed it as a solid recognition by the international community that a solution to the Kashmir conflict was in the interests of international peace and security.
"The Front sees this as indicative of the US finally moving from crisis management to finding a long-lasting and peaceful solution that is agreeable to all parties," the statement said.
Contending that 'the problems of Kashmir cannot be resolved through violence', the JKLF also urged Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to act on his New Year's pledge in 2001 whereby he had stated that 'India is willing and ready to seek a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem'.
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