Srinagar: A ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran has ignited fresh calls for peace and dialogue in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday (April 8) with some prominent voices applauding Pakistan’s mediatory role in the landmark deal.

Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and influential cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq commended Islamabad’s intervention, crediting Pakistan for playing a “central role” in brokering the ceasefire and pulling the world back from the brink of an all-out war. Mufti also called for a dialogue between India and Pakistan to resolve their “all outstanding issues”.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah and his father Farooq Abdullah also welcomed the cessation of hostilities in the Gulf region.

The ceasefire was brokered on Tuesday, in the sixth week since the US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran which killed its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, his close family members and others, and triggered a wave of counter attacks by Tehran on their regional allies.

The news of the ceasefire agreement triggered celebrations in some Shia-dominated localities of Kashmir where youngsters reportedly burst crackers.

An eyewitness in Baramulla said that the elders in Delina locality were seen shaking hands and hugging each other on roads and in the market to celebrate the “resilience” and “victory” of Iran over the world’s most powerful country.

Similar scenes of celebrations and joy were reported from other Shia-majority areas of Kashmir. 

Meanwhile, Farooq Abdullah said that the implications of the war are being felt across the world while noting that hundreds of thousands of J&K residents were studying and working in the Gulf region.

“We want peace. We don’t want war. It is God’s will that a deal has........

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