LAHORE, May 25: Former chief justice Rajindra Sachar of the Delhi High Court on Wednesday pleaded for separating the Kashmir conflict from the peace process, saying the people of India and Pakistan would resolve such ‘petty disputes’ by themselves once they achieved a certain level of friendship and unity of action in all walks of life.

“The peace process has now become irreversible; this is exactly like the independence movement before 1947; no government here or there can now reverse the quest for peace and amity in the region because this has developed into a movement of the people,” Justice Sachar told a news conference at the end of his four-day visit.

Flanked by Awais Sheikh of the Pakistan-India Peace Initiative, the former chief justice said Kashmir was an outstanding conflict and a hard ground reality. But it was also true that indications of its solutions were remote, particularly in view of the diplomatic process adopted by Islamabad and Delhi.

“Only an astrologer may tell when it (the Kashmir dispute) will be resolved.”

Yet, the friendship between the two peoples and trade and commerce relations should not be linked with the resolution of the conflict, Justice Sachar said, and added that people were mature enough to resolve their disputes provided both the government confided in their collective wisdom.

He appreciated the bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad and said this would also augment the efforts to resolve the Kashmir dispute. “Let more such efforts take the ground; this is the way to restore normalcy to South Asia,” he added.

Mr Sheikh said the Track-II diplomacy had clearly overtaken the efforts by the two governments, which were under several constraints.

He suggested that non-government organizations of the two countries should step up efforts to develop a movement for peace and friendship in the region, which was necessary for the world peace.

He also suggested that economic experts of the two countries should devise strategies to alleviate poverty, bring down unemployment and reduce cost of living because the people of the two countries were suffering such social evils.