SRINAGAR, March 26: The chief minister of occupied Kashmir on Wednesday urged Pakistan’s new premier to revive a slow-moving peace process with New Delhi, while a hardline separatist struck a more pessimistic note.

“With an elected government in place in Pakistan, I am hopeful that it will work towards consolidation of the peace process initiated by the two countries four years ago,” Indian Kashmir’s Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said.

But hardline Syed Ali Shah Geelani said he did not expect too much from Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.

“Kashmiris should not expect too much from the new government,” said Mr Geelani, who wants the state to join Pakistan.

He accuses President Pervez Musharraf of abandoning support to an insurgency, which has raged in the state since 1989, by siding with the US in the wake of the Sept 11, 2001 terror attacks in New York and Washington.

“After 9/11, the Pakistan government has taken a U-turn on Kashmir. Pakistan should do some rethinking and support the Kashmiri cause,” he said.—AFP