SRINAGAR, Jan 14: The All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) on Monday urged India to respond to President Pervez Musharraf’s fresh offer of talks, made during the address to the nation on Saturday.

“Now is the time to rise above ordinary considerations, respond to the call of the times, seize the opportunity and take practical and productive measures towards a better world and a brighter future,” said Abdul Gani Bhat, the chairman of the APHC.

“Musharraf’s historic address will hopefully be followed by a purposeful and substantive dialogue involving India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir,” said Bhat.

“The dialogue should be held with a view to find an honourable and a durable solution to the dispute over Kashmir.”

Omer Farooq, another senior leader of the Hurriyat, said President Musharraf’s address and offer of dialogue had put the ball firmly in India’s court.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee “should come forward and reciprocate the Pakistan president’s sincere gesture”, Farooq said.

Asked whether a crackdown on extremist groups in Pakistan would affect the freedom movement in occupied Kashmir, Farooq said the Kashmiri struggle had begun decades before the recent intervention of foreign-based outfits.—AFP