NEW DELHI, March 24: Ghulam Nabi Azad, the head of the occupied Kashmir government, has expressed a hope that the new government in Pakistan would take forward the peace and friendship initiative launched four years ago.

Speaking at a public meeting in Jammu, he said the peace prevailing on LoC for the last four years would flower into permanent friendship.

“We want that this peace on borders should be a permanent feature and relations between the two countries bloom into lasting friendship so that resources are spent on development and prosperity of the people on both sides,” Mr Azad said, adding that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi were working to accelerate the peace process.—APP