Srinagar: Pakistan Administered Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has said there was no military solution to the Kashmir issue and India would have to initiate dialogue with Pakistan and Kashmiris to find a way for a peaceful settlement of this longstanding dispute.

He said that Pakistan had always sought a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute through dialogue, but India was adamant that it would settle the issue through military might by suppressing the voice of Kashmiri people for their internationally recognised right to self-determination, Dawn reported.

Recalling that India and Pakistan had already fought three wars over the Kashmir issue, the Khan cautioned that New Delhi’s persistent obduracy on the issue and its “barbaric acts in occupied territory and indiscriminate shelling” on civilian population along the Line of Control (LoC) could push both nuclear-armed states to the brink of a fourth war.

“It is the high time the UN secretary general take a step forward and appoint a special representative to explore a viable solution to this festering conflict and ensure lasting peace and stability in the region,” he said.

“The UN and world powers need to intervene in setting a stage for the settlement of the Kashmir issue before these two nuclear states indulge in a full-fledged war which will be a massive disaster engulfing not only the South Asian region but also a large part of the world,” he added.