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| PM moots triple entry permit system | | ‘Opportunity for India, Pakistan to join hands for peace’ | | Early Times Reporter
Akhnoor/Katra | Apr 25
Proposing a slew of confidence building measures across the Line of Control and also within the state, the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh though said that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was fast improving but said that it was still far from being normal.
Addressing a largely attended public meeting here today after dedicating to the nation second bridge on Chenab, the Prime Minister said that the travel restrictions across the Line of Control shall be further eased to facilitate trade through Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakote roads.
The Prime Minister pointed out that India and had realized that misunderstandings should be removed through mutual dialogue. He said the people of the two countries could move forward and convert the atmosphere of confidence into a lasting friendship. He said 1.15 lakh Pakistani citizens were given visas to visit India last year. He said the number was double than in the previous three years. During the same period the bilateral trade had increased three times. Soon, he said, this would touch 2 billon US dollars.
He emphasized on the need for the people of Jammu & Kashmir to become important stakeholders in these improving relations. He recalled that at the time of flagging off the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus in 2005, he had said that it was not only a beginning for two-way travel but also pave way for trade. He said some people had criticized it then and militants had also tried to disrupt the bus service. However, the people of the valley and PoK by continuously using the road for travel had frustrated their design.
Dr. Singh said that he wanted to see the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch Rawlakote roads to be used for trade and travel like Attari-Wagah and Khokhrapar-Munnabao roads. He said triple entry permit was being considered to facilitate this. He said it had been decided to dispose off applications within six weeks. He said India had taken up with Pakistan opening of Kargil-Skardu and Jammu-Sialkote roads. He said India wants the bus service on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawlakote to be weekly instead of fortnightly as at present. He said facility would be provided for submitting applications of entry permit at passport centres in districts. He said this would increase cross-LoC travel and strengthen cultural, educational and trade relations. However, he said all this was possible when there was peace on borders. He said although some headway had been made in this direction but the situation was not fully satisfying.
Later addressing the first convocation of Sri Mata Vaishno Devi University, the Prime Minister reiterated that in this era of globalization and development in communications technologies, borders have lost their relevance as everywhere the people wish to be connected to their neighbours. He referred to the cross LOC connectivity established by his Government and said this has also contributed to a new sense of empowerment of the ordinary people. Drawing inspiration from the successes of the initiatives taken so far, he called for taking more such steps to strengthen the bonds that exist between the people on both sides of the LOC in Jammu and Kashmir.
Envisioning a prosperous Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister said that peace, security and stability can contribute to the overall economic advancement of the State and yearned for a lasting peace, tangible security and palpable stability so that the people of the three regions of the State could look to their future with greater hope and confidence.
The Prime Minister said that following the return of democracy in Pakistan, he was hopeful that the dialogue with the neighbouring country would prove to be meaningful and result oriented. He said the two countries were facing economic and social problems. He said steep price hike all over the world had resulted in the hardships of common people, adding that India and Pakistan could together address these problems to a great extent. He said being democracies, the responsibility of the two countries was to carry their people along in addressing the issues. He said four out of the five Working Groups on Jammu & Kashmir constituted by him, had submitted their reports which were discussed in the Round Table Conference. He said discussion on these recommendations was also held between the State and the Central governments. He said proposals based on these recommendations would be soon implemented and hoped that this would result in the further improvement of situation in the State.
Dr. Singh said the construction of the Akhnoor bridge was part of the economic reconstruction of J&K being pursued by the union government. He said a bridge over Ravi River was being constructed to improve road communication. He said the economic package he had announced during his first visit to J&K as PM, was showing positive results in sectors like education, agriculture, horticulture, roads, power, telecommunication, tourism and rail and air travel. He complimented Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and his predecessor, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed for their focused attention on the development of the State.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister for providing liberal financial assistance to Jammu and Kashmir during the past five years. He said be it launching of infrastructure development or dealing with natural calamities like earthquake, floods, drought or unprecedented snowfall, the central assistance was always forthcoming. He said liberal assistance was also made available for infrastructure development, making it easy for the coalition government in the State to change the development scenario.
Azad said that for the first time in 60 years Round Table Conferences were held and Working Groups constituted to address the political and economic situation in the State and efforts made to ameliorate problems of widows, militancy affected children and border population. He thanked the Prime Minister for the sympathetic attitude towards the problems of the people of the State. He said the completion of the Akhnoor bridge had met the long pending demand of the people. He said it would largely facilitate people of border districts of Rajouri and Poonch.
Governor, Lt. Gen (Retd) S. K. Sinha, Union Minister for Water Resources, Saifuddin Soz, Minister of State for Defence, P. Raju, former Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, Speaker, legislative assembly, Tara Chand, Deputy Chief Minister, M. H. Baig and MP. Madal Lal Sharma, besides several ministers, legislators and corporators were also present. |
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