MUZAFFARABAD, Feb 15: AJK President Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan said on Friday that international support for the Kashmiri cause was growing, subsequently brightening the prospects of a peaceful settlement to the dispute.

“I feel immensely satisfied that support for our stand on Kashmir issue is increasing at the international level in general and in the Muslim Ummah in particular… In the backdrop of changing global situations, prospects of a peaceful solution to the issue are also brightening,” he told a news conference here.

The news conference was called by Mr Yaqoob to share his observations regarding the recent OIC summit and foreign ministers’ meeting in Cairo as well as the working of the OIC’s contact group on Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Yaqoob and APHC leader Ghulam Mohammad Safi attended the contact group meetings as representatives of the Kashmiris.

“It is heartening for the Kashmiri nation that as a result of the vigorous diplomatic efforts of the government of Pakistan, OIC contact group on Jammu and Kashmir has been expanded and brotherly country Azerbaijan has voluntarily offered to become its member and work for the Kashmir cause,” the president said.

He said the contact group would soon hold a conference of Kashmiri leaders from both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) in Jeddah to highlight their consensus on the issue on the one hand and expedite efforts at the international level for settlement of the issue on the other.