Saturday, March 25 2006 16:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Srinagar: Describing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's offer of a peace treaty with Pakistan as 'historical,' the Jammu and Kashmir unit of CPI (M) today (Mar 25, 2006) said the agreement of peace and friendship between both countries would facilitate their quest for a 'shared future.'

The party also equally welcomed the positive response from Pakistan to the Prime Minister's offer.

"PM's offer of peace treaty with Pakistan is a historical step. positive response by the Pakistani leadership to the offer is equally a step to be hailed," CPI (M) state committee leader Bashir Assad said in a statement here.

The Prime Minister made the offer yesterday while flagging off a bus service from Amritsar to Nankana Sahib in Pakistan yesterday (Mar 24, 2006).

Assad said the resolution of outstanding issues between the two countries was possible only when the political leadership on both sides firmly resolve to leave behind the bitterness of the past and think in terms of a 'shared and common future'.

"The Indo-Pak leadership has to be flexible enough to genuinely accommodate each other for a better and prosperous South Asia as this could be the turning point in the bilateral relations between the two countries," he said.

Assad emphasisised the need for Kashmir-centric confidence building measures which include release of detenues notinvolved in henious crimes, identifying peace zones within the state and subsequent pull out of security forces.