SRINAGAR, July 3: Pakistan’s top singer Farida Khanum has made her first visit to occupied Kashmir, winning a standing ovation at a music festival.

She drew the ovation in Srinagar as she entertained festival-goers with her classical Sufi songs on Monday night. “It was my deep desire to visit Kashmir and to see the paradise (Kashmir) which was my mother’s native place,” Khanum told the audience at the festival which ends on Wednesday.

Khanum, known as “Pakistan’s ghazal queen”, is best known for her musical renderings of great Sufi poets.

The visit by the Pakistani singer to occupied Kashmir came against the backdrop of a slow-moving three-year peace process to resolve all disputes between India and Pakistan, including over the Himalayan region.

Cultural exchanges between the two countries have become much more frequent since the peace process began.

“The people here have a sense of beauty. I’m extremely happy to have come here to perform,” said Khanum.—AFP