In a statement here on Tuesday, Shah, brother-in-law of Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, said the prevailing situation in which many lives had been lost and devastation and economic deprivation caused was the culmination of years of neglect towards achieving an amicable resolution of the problems of Kashmir.

He said inflexible attitudes of both India and Pakistan had brought them to a point where the very sovereignty of the two countries was in jeopardy. This state of affairs was fraught with grave dangers to the entire South Asian region, Shah said.

He said the conflict had persisted for half-a-century and caused three wars which failed to break the deadlock. Once again, India and Pakistan were locked in a conflict which had the potential of escalating into a war.

The former chief minister said alreadyhundreds of soldiers had lost their lives on both sides and thousands of people had been rendered homeless and destitute, becoming refugees in their own country.

He said hundreds more were getting killed in firing across the borders but the ruling elite could not understand their misery because no harm reached them.