LAHORE, Jan 14: The National Kashmir Committee member Justice Raja Afrasiab Khan (retired) has urged USA to exert its pressure on India to hold a dialogue with Pakistan for the settlement of the Kashmir issue.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, he welcomed a recent US statement that Washington had exerted pressure on both India and Pakistan to initiate a meaningful dialogue on the issue and that US fully realized the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people.

He said that the US stand was in consonance with the UN resolutions which had granted the right of determination to the Kashmiri people to decide their future.

Justice Raja Afrasiab Khan urged both Pakistan and India to hold talks to resolve the issue keeping in view the wishes of the Kashmiris.

He said that instead of fighting a fourth war which could decimate both of the countries, they should put up a joint fight against poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and disease by utilizing their resources for the welfare and prosperity of 1,300 million people of the sub-continent.