More than 100 prominent citizens from India and Pakistan wrote to the prime ministers of both countries on Tuesday, urging them to resume dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir and to work on creating lasting peace in the region, reported The Indian Express.
They also called for restoring full diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Islamabad, reinstating high commissioners in both capital cities and resuming normal visa services for citizens of the countries.
India had revoked all visas for Pakistani citizens on April 27, 2025, following the Pahalgam terror attack, which had killed 26 persons on April 22, 2025. In retaliation, Pakistan suspended all visas issued to Indians under the SAARC exemption scheme.
India and Pakistan had also expelled diplomats working at the High Commissions in New Delhi and Islamabad.
Following Pakistan’s downgrade of diplomatic ties with India in August 2019 over New Delhi’s decision to abrogate the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, both countries’ diplomatic missions have been led by chargés d’affaires instead of high commissioners.
The letter on Tuesday was signed by 61 persons from India, including National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha, Kashmir chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the Congress’ Mani Shankar Aiyar and ex-chief of the Research and Analysis Wing AS Dulat, reported The Hindu.
On the Pakistani side, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, ex-diplomat Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, diplomat Shamsher Ahmed Khan and artist Beena Sarwar were among the 56 signatories.
“India and Pakistan together are home to nearly one-fifth of humanity,” The Indian Express quoted the letter as stating. “A large proportion of our population is young…The people of both countries deserve a future defined by peace, development, connectivity and cooperation, rather than perpetual mistrust and confrontation.”
The group asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif to revisit the framework on Jammu and Kashmir, negotiated between 2004 and 2007, towards demilitarisation and de-escalation, while addressing “legitimate security concerns of both countries”.
Between 2004 and 2007, India and Pakistan had engaged in negotiations to produce the closest-ever breakthrough on Jammu and Kashmir through an informal “four-point formula”.
It would have included a gradual reduction of troops on both sides of the Line of Control, granting local autonomy to Kashmir without altering international borders, creating mechanisms for seamless movement of persons and free trade, and establishing a joint oversight body to manage cross-border matters.
Additionally, in the letter on Tuesday, the group also advocated for reopening the Attari-Wagah land border, and resuming the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Delhi-Lahore bus services.
The bus services were suspended in 2019. The Attari-Wagah land border remains indefinitely closed to general civilian and tourist travel between India and Pakistan. The crossing was shut down following the Pahalgam terror attacks.
The group also said that the airspace, which was shut after the Pahalgam attack, should also be opened for commercial airlines to reduce travel time and costs.
“This appeal is not an endorsement of any political position,” The Hindu quoted the letter as saying. “It is a call to place the welfare, aspirations and future of nearly two billion people above conflict, confrontation, and division.”
Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.
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