Srinagar, Kashmir - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a peace overture to neighbouring Pakistan Wednesday, saying New Delhi will respond with friendship if Islamabad contained terrorist groups targeting India. Inaugurating a segment of the first-ever train service in the troubled India-administered Kashmir, Singh also invited Kashmiri separatists for talks on the condition that they renounce violence.
The Indian leader said his government was ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan if the neighbouring country showed sincerity and good faith.
Singh was speaking in Anantnag town, where he inaugurated a new train link that completes the 129-kilometre rail network connecting the northern and southern parts of the Kashmir valley.
"I will ask the Pakistani government to control groups spreading terrorism in India," Singh said in a speech in the Urdu language.
"It is the Pakistan government's responsibility to destroy their camps and eliminate their infrastructure. They (terrorists) should be severely punished for their crimes against humanity," he said.
Singh's comments came as ties between the nuclear-armed neighbours have deteriorated, following the Mumbai attacks last November which are blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant outfit.
More than 160 people were killed in three-day long gun-and-bomb attacks carried out by 10 gunmen who reached the city on boat.
India, which insists that Islamabad act against the masterminds of the attack, had suspended a five-year-old peace dialogue soon after the Mumbai carnage.
"I call upon the people and the government of Pakistan to show their sincerity and good faith," he said. "We will not be found wanting and will give a friendly response. I appeal to Pakistan to take note of the hand of friendship we have extended."
Singh also renewed the Indian federal government's offer to negotiate with all sections of Kashmiri society.
He began a two-day visit to the restive region that saw tight security after intelligence reports indicated that separatist militants were likely to escalate violence.
"Our government is ready to talk to anyone, provided they abjure violence and bloodshed and desire peace and development in Kashmir," Singh said.
Singh said the phase of separatist violence and militancy was ending in Kashmir, and the participation of Kashmiris in local and general polls was proof that they wanted peace in the region.
Meanwhile, daily life in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley was disrupted after a shutdown called by separatist leaders to protest Singh's visit.
Major markets, educational institutions and banks remained closed in response to the separatists' strike call.
Picturesque Kashmir is at the heart of a long conflict between India and Pakistan which have fought two wars over the region since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947.
India alleges militants demanding a separate homeland for Kashmir are trained in Pakistan and routinely infiltrate India-administered Kashmir to launch attacks in the state.
Militant violence, which reached its peak in the state in 1989, has claimed the lives of more than 45,000 people, including civilians, militants and security forces.
