'Settlement of vexed Kashmir issue is PDP's political agenda'

Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said "settlement of the vexed Kashmir issue" is the core of the party's political agenda and it would strive hard to pursue its policies and programmes by taking all stakeholders on board.
"The issue of Jammu and Kashmir can be resolved only by addressing it," Sayeed said addressing a function on the 14th foundation day of PDP at the party's headquarter here.
Seeking a decisive mandate for the party in next year's Assembly elections, Sayeed said "I have no hesitation in promising a dignified solution to this vexed problem if people repose their faith in my party."

For arriving at a resolution, an internal atmosphere of trust needs to be created and having an external environment of understanding between India and Pakistan is essential, he stressed.
"During our brief tenure we had attempted this and achieved a breakthrough. This process needs to be carried forward and PDP would pick up the threads again," he said.
The former Chief Minister said PDP had emerged as a credible voice of Jammu and Kashmir and even though it hopes to receive a decisive mandate, it will create an inclusive atmosphere to take all stakeholders on board.

"We do not claim to have monopoly on all wisdom, popularity or representation, but will seek everybody's help in arriving at a just and practical solution of the Kashmir issue," he said.

PDP's fight is not against any party or individual but it wants to establish a true and all inclusive democratic set up in the state, Sayeed said.
"The trust deficit prevailing between the Valley and rest of the country was not because of the people of Kashmir but due to the wrong policies and shifting stands of the leaders whom people have been choosing for long," he said.