New Delhi - Thousands of people gathered on the banks of the Dal Lake in Srinagar, the capital of India's Jammu and Kashmir state, on Sunday for a performance by Pakistani band Junoon, news reports said. India and Pakistan have been locked in a bitter conflict for years over the disputed Kashmir region, which is divided into two parts, one controlled by India, the other by Pakistan.
More than 50,000 people have died in India-controlled Kashmir since the mid-1980s in a violent secessionist militant movement. India has accused Pakistan of aiding the militants, a charge that Islamabad has denied. Pakistan says Kashmiri militants are freedom fighters.
"This is the best way to resolve conflicts," former Sri Lanka president Chandrika Kumaratunga was quoted as saying by NDTV television channel about the concert.
Kumaratunga, along with several other South Asian dignitaries from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, were in Srinagar to attend the performance along with 10,000 Kashmiris.
The concert at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre was organized by the Indian chapter of South Asian Foundation (SAF) to promote regional peace and harmony. The South Asian leaders attending the concert are members of the SAF.
The authorities gave out only 10,000 invitations for the concert a for security reasons, but large numbers of local people gathered outside the venue to hear Junoon's music, which is a fusion of east and west.
Srinagar has been the site of many militant attacks.
"We sing songs of unity, peace, joy and brotherhood and this seems to be the perfect setting for those songs," Junoon's lead singer Salman Ahmad was quoted as saying before the concert.
He said he had wanted to perform in Srinagar for more than a decade. "It is a dream come true," he said.
