New Delhi:
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today congratulated PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif for his party's performance in the historic general elections and hoped that the former Pakistani premier will live up to his commitment to restart the peace process with India.
"Congratulations to Nawaz Sharif. I hope he is now able to live up to his commitment to restart his peace process interrupted in 1999," Mr Abdullah tweeted as early poll trends showed Mr Sharif set for a third term as Pakistan's Prime Minister.
"I suppose we'll have to wait for a post-election scenario to emerge in our country before any meaningful engagement can begin #IndoPak," Mr Abdullah posted on micro blogging site Twitter.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) took a massive lead over its rivals in early poll results, making a remarkable comeback after Mr Sharif was toppled in a military coup in 1999 and subsequently sent into exile.
As per Pakistan TV projections, no single party would win a simple majority of 172 seats in the 342-member National Assembly.
"Given the bloody election Pakistan has seen I hope they now realise that there can be no good terrorists & bad terrorists, all terror is bad," Mr Abdullah posted.
During election campaigning, Mr Sharif in various interviews had stressed on the importance of resolving the Kashmir issue peacefully and suggested that back channel negotiations should be reactivated.
"We have our stated positions since last 60-65 years. India says Kashmir is our 'Atoot ang'. In 1999, the Lahore declaration was a different atmosphere. It said both the countries agree to solve the Kashmir issue by sitting across the table, peacefully. We need to begin from where we had left in 1999," Mr Sharif had said.