Jammu: Regretting that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had lent his "voice to the hawks" in the current India-Pakistan tensions, Jammu and Kashmir`s opposition PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said the recent events along the LoC were a "severe setback" to the peace process.
Sayeed, in a statement, regretted that Manmohan Singh "had chosen to lend his voice to the hawks in the currrent Indo-Pakistan problems"
The people were looking to the prime minister for carrying forward the peace process that had a positive impact on the life of the people in the last 10 years, he said.
Ssyeed said it was disheartening for the large peace constituency in the country that the prime minister should have indicated the end of "business as usual" with Pakistan in the wake of the incidents on the LoC and the shrill debate that followed in a section of the media.
On Tuesday, Singh said that there can be "no business as usual" with Pakistan following the brutal killings of two Indian soldiers and the beheading of one of them.
"These developments have come as a severe setback to the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," Sayeed said in a statement.
He also disapproved of the measures that "undermine" the peace process between the two countries.
Tensions on the Line of Control soared this month after India accused Pakistan of killing two of its soldiers Jan 8 while Islamabad said three Pakistani soldiers were killed by the Indian Army.
India accused the Pakistan Army of beheading one of its soldiers and mutilating the body of another.
The delay in implementing the new liberal visa regime and the return of the Pakistani players who were to participate in the Hockey India League had sent extremely negative signals to people in the state, Sayeed said.
The two armies Wednesday agreed not to violate the 2003 ceasefire on the LoC.
IANS
