In occupied Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Vice Chairman Bashir Ahmad Butt has felicitated Barack Obama for assuming charge as the 44th President of the United States. According to Kashmir Media Service, Bashir Ahmed Butt in a statement in Srinagar hoped that the US under the stewardship of Obama would take effective steps for resolving the long pending Kashmir dispute to ensure peace in South Asia.
"The people of Kashmir are hopeful that he will work for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute and his views about the change will surely bring lasting and durable peace, prosperity not only t South Asia but to the whole world," he said.
Expressing surprise over the recent statement of Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh that Kashmir was an inalienable part of India, Bashir Ahmad Butt said, "Jammu Kashmir is not a legitimate part of India but a disputed region." Had it really been a part of India, the UN, the US and Britain would not have stressed the need for resolving the Kashmir dispute for abiding peace in the region.