Jeddah, Mar 14: The Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today said New Delhi would be more comfortable with Saudi mediation than any other country.
“Currently a rethink is going on in India. Given the strengthening of ties between India and the Kingdom, Saudi Arabia can mediate on the issue,” Mirwaiz told Arab News during an interview adding it could play a positive role in bringing India and Pakistan together to settle the dispute.
Welcoming the statement made by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Shashi Tharoor in which he said that Saudi Arabia could be a “valuable interlocutor” in improving India’s ties with Pakistan, Mirwaiz said Saudi Arabia was influential not only in the Middle East, but also in South Asia. “The Kingdom has a history of playing positive role in disputes, such as Afghanistan and Palestine. Kashmiris would be more than happy if the Kingdom mediated on our behalf,” he said.
Earlier, Mirwaiz while speaking at a function organized by the Kashmir Overseas Committee in his welcome, urged the Committee members to send a good will delegation to Kashmir to take stock of situation.
Mirwaiz said that Kashmiris were not tired of the struggle and they have often showed their resilience. “And we are still showing it,” he said. 
The noted personalities of Pakistan, Pakistan Administered Kashmir and Saudi Arabia were present in the function.
Mirwaiz also told the newspaper that appointment of Farah Pandit as special representative for Muslim communities by US President Barack Obama was an indication of the US administration’s approach to the Kashmir problem. He said some “back channel” dialogue was going on but refused to divulge details.
He said the Government of India should come clean on missing persons and expressed disappointment with the role of human rights organizations in India.
Insisting on a “political solution” to the K-issue, he said in the given situation, the “Musharraf formula” was workable.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 IST