NEW DELHI, Oct 16: Kashmir’s All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) welcomed remarks by US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday asking India and Pakistan to resume their talks to resolve the “central” issue between the two countries.

“This is a reiteration of the position the American state has taken in regard of the dispute in Jammu and Kashmir,” APHC chairman Professor Abdul Ghani Bhatt told Dawn from Srinagar. “As far as I know, the Americans consider Kashmir as a disputed territory and seek a dialogue involving, principally, the people of Jammu and Kashmir along with India and Pakistan.”

He said the American view was that while seeking the settlement of the dispute political aspirations of the Kashmiri people will have to be taken into account.

“What I consider important is that (Powell’s) statement has come at the most opportune time when a realization has dawned across the globe that unless the root causes of tension and violence are addressed no peace can happen on earth,” Bhatt said.

He said the “statement is a positive development in terms of seeking a permanent settlement of the root cause of tension between India and Pakistan.”.

There has been some confusion recently whether the APHC was losing its grip on the Kashmiri people, many of whom were staging unprecedented anti-American demonstrations in the valley in the aftermath of the war in Afghanistan.

“The news that civilians in Afghanistan fall victim to bombing has led to protests and processions in Kashmir too, as elsewhere,” another senior APHC official told Dawn.

“I think the American decision to seize accounts of Jaish-i-Mohammed too is a factor to be taken into consideration while discussing the protests in Kashmir.”