Chennai, Aug 12: Normalisation of relations with Pakistan will help Jammu and Kashmir more than any other part of the country, state Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed said here today. 'It (normalisation of relations) will help us more than any other part of the country. Because of the confrontation, people of J&K are suffering. Kashmir problem cannot be solved in one go and it will take long time. Good neighbourly relations and interactions between people of the two countries will go a long way', he said responding to questions from newsmen at the FICCI (south) meeting here.

To a question on uniform civil code, he felt there should be a 'consensus' and all sections of society must be taken into confidence before initiating a debate. Replying to a question on Kashmiri migrants, he said his government was 'prepared' to receive them and give all the necessary incentives for their rehabilitation. 'It is for them to decide when to return,' he said and expressed hope that 'one by one they will return to their roots.'

Sayeed said there was a 'sea change' in the atmosphere in the state now as the government felt that 'bullet is no answer' to the problems.

In the last three months, nearly a lakh tourists (other than yatris) visited the state, as against just 10,000 during the same period last year, he added. Bureau Report