NEW DELHI, Sept 3: Emphasizing the need for taking Kashmiris into confidence, the Hurriyat Conference on Wednesday said India and Pakistan should initiate talks in right earnest to put an end to violence in occupied Kashmir.

“There is an urgent need for a dialogue. We are the principal party to Kashmir issue,” former Hurriyat chairman, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, said after a delegation of European Union envoys called on APHC leaders in Srinagar.

Hurriyat impressed upon the visiting envoys that the peace process was linked to causes of violence, Prof Bhat said, adding to put an end to it, “we will have to address the root cause.”

“India and Pakistan should take representatives of the people of Kashmir into confidence and start a dialogue process to put an end to violence,” Prof Bhat said.

“Let us talk to India first and Pakistan next. And let Indians meet requirements for initiating a dialogue. Let us move together, hold each other’s hands and find a way out in the interest of the people,” the Kashmiri leader said. “We apprised (European Union envoys) about the current situation in the state,” he said.—APP