NEW DELHI, Aug 6: Pakistan and India may be exploring ways to boost people-to-people contact between themselves but they have not shown the same enthusiasm to bring the divided Kashmiri families closer together , Kashmiri leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq charged on Friday.

The spiritual leader told a Friday prayer congregation in Srinagar that two recent deaths in his family on both sides of the Line of Control were typical occasions when the divided relatives would have wanted to meet.

"We have seen that cricketers and cricket lovers are feted by both the countries. We do not regret that. But we would also welcome a similar thought to be spared for the Kashmiri people, whose plight is the root cause of the standoff between India and Pakistan," Maulvi Farooq said.

He faxed a copy of the statement to Dawn. Maulvi Farooq said he was disappointed by the tardy pace of talks seeking a solution to the Kashmir dispute. "The priority seems to be to facilitate businessmen and cultural groups to travel to each other's country. We welcome the idea. We also welcome the efforts to normalize the tense relations between India and Pakistan," he said.

He said it was unlikely that much progress could be made on any issue between the two countries if the travails of the Kashmiri people were not addressed alongside.