India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh heralded Thursday a "new chapter" in a peace process to end a two-decade revolt in Indian-held Kashmir that has left more than 47,000 people dead. Winding up a two-day trip to the held Kashmir valley, Singh reiterated his government's willingness to hold talks with all groups opposed to Indian rule as long as they renounced violence.
"I believe that a new chapter is opening in the peace process in the state and we are turning a corner," Singh told a news conference in occupied Srinagar. "We are willing to engage in serious discussions with every group provided they shun the path of violence," Singh said as he announced a series of economic measures to boost the region's infrastructure and tourist economy.
But one veteran Kashmiri leader who is considered a moderate swiftly rebuffed Singh's offer. "We will never accept talks within the framework of the Indian constitution," Shabir Shah told AFP. "The talks have to be trilateral involving Pakistan, India and the Kashmiris" said Shah, who has been in and out of Indian jails for participating in some of the biggest anti-India demonstrations in two decades.
"If talks are to be held for development, they should be held with pro-India leaders," Shah added, "We are for freedom and if they (Indians) are willing to discuss that with us, we will talk," he said. "The era of violence and terrorism (in occupied Jammu and Kashmir) is coming to an end. The public sentiment is for peace and for a peaceful resolution of all problems," Singh said.