Islamabad, May 30: Observing that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's peace initiative was sincere and the opportunity should not be lost, former PoK president Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan said today that the peace process should be "hastened" as failure to do so would enable hardliners on both sides to derail it.
"Both countries should avoid delay as it could lead to further complications," Khan, who heads the ruling Muslim Congress of the PoK government, said here.

He said that any further delay would enable anti-peace lobbies on both sides to derail the efforts of both the governments to kick start the dialogue.
"The new opportunity should not be lost. Sooner they resume the talks the better," he said adding that Vajpayee was very sincere in making the new offer of talks with Pakistan.

Qayum, who till recently headed the government-backed Pakistan Kashmir Committee, said the two governments should build trust among themselves before they settled for talks on vexed issues like Kashmir.
Bureau Report