KARACHI, May 20: As India and Pakistan are showing distinct signs of a thaw in their long-frozen relationships, the Jammu and Kashmir state committee of the Communist Party of India (M) has reiterated its four-point plan delineating the confidence-building measures required for substantive negotiations, leading to settlement of issues.

According to a communication released to the press by the Pakistan Peace Coalition at a round-table conferece in Karachi on Monday, Pakistan is required to effectively use its authority and influence in persuading the armed groups operating from its soil to desist from violent activities.

It also wants the release of all political prisoners and ensuring democratic rights in the Azad Jammu & Kashmir, including Northern Areas.

The CPI(M) has also urged the Indian government to gradually reduce the size of its security forces involved in the internal security and initiate measures to provide fair and prompt trial to all detenues, languishing in various prisons and release all those, against whom no evidence has been found at the trial.

It also wants New Delhi to provide substantive relief to the victims of violence, irrespective of their affiliations and facilitate the return of youth to their homes from the other side of LoC, who want to lead a peaceful life.

It has urged both the governments of India and Pakistan to create conducive conditions for people living on two sides of LoC to meet each other without undue hurdles. Suitable mechanism for easy travel has to be evolved. Besides this, exchange of cultural groups on either side of the LoC be encouraged.

The CPI(M) is of the view that all political parties / groups, particularly APHC and such other platforms, should initiate effective steps for dignified return of migrants, particularly the pundits. In addition, the party has also called for rapid restoration of relations between the two countries.

Among the various CBMs it has urged both the governments to take initiatives to arrive at a cease-fire between the Indian Security Forces and the armed groups and to set-up a meaningful monitoring mechanism for the implementation of the cease-fire.

It has proposed a non- governmental commission enjoying complete trust and credibility of the civil society in Jammu and Kashmir to conduct an enquiry into the truth of the manner and methods employed, the motivations and causes behind thousands of killings and atrocities committed in occupied Kashmir.