CBMs for Kashmir likely today

Pilgrims and tourists may soon be able to board the bus between Srinagar and Muzaffarrabad. This is one of the many confidence building measures Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to announce at the third roundtable conference on Kashmir tomorrow.

At present, the bus service is only for members of the families divided across the LoC. The initiative comes on the suggestion of one of the five working groups on Kashmir headed by former bureaucrat MK Rasgotra.

The prime minister is also likely to announce a major relief and rehabilitation package for those widowed and orphaned in the 15 years of violence in Jammu and Kashmir. Politicians from Kashmir said this could be the most effective measure to bring into the mainstream the estranged sections of Kashmir's society.

Another recommendation likely to be accepted by the Centre will benefit Kashmiri migrants - a majority of them Hindus. Sources said the government had agreed to upgrade the two-room tenements in which the displaced community had been living in Jammu.

Around 30 leaders from mainstream parties are taking part in the conference, that will adopt the recommendations of four out of the five working groups set up by the prime minister as part of an initiative to resolve the Kashmir issue.

The prime minister, on the second round table conference in May had set up five working groups to give recommendations on burning issues - confidence building measures across segments of society, strengthening relations across the LoC, Economic development and ensuring good governance and Centre-state relations.

The first Kashmir roundtable conference was held in New Delhi February 25 last year while the second conclave took place in Srinagar May 24 last year.