Omar congratulates Sharif, hopes he will restart peace process

Pattan (J&K): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday hoped PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif would restart the peace process with India and urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to extend a hand of friendship to him for resolving issues between the two sides including Kashmir.

Congratulating Sharif for his party`s victory in Pakistan general elections, Omar said, "Today is an important day for people of Jammu and Kashmir as the elections were held in Pakistan and Mian Nawaz Sharif is emerging as victorious. "I, from this stage at Trikulbal Pattan, congratulate Mian Sahib on behalf of people of Jammu and Kashmir, my government and myself and hope that he would carry forward the process of restoring peace and friendship with India and work for resolving K-issue." The Chief Minister, who was addressing a function here, 30 km from Srinagar, urged Sharif to move ahead once again on this important issue by picking up the threads from where these had been dropped. Earlier, on micro blogging site Twitter, Omar said, "Congratulations to Nawaz Sharif. I hope he is now able to live up to his commitment to restart his peace process interrupted in 1999. "I suppose we`ll have to wait for a post election scenario to emerge in our country before any meaningful engagement can begin #IndoPak," he tweeted. Omar also appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to extend a hand of friendship to Nawaz Sharif for resolving all outstanding issues including those pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir as then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee did with then Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf. PTI