In a renewed stress on the dialogue as the only credible mechanism for the resolution of Kashmir, Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq — who recently attended a meeting of Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) Contact Group on Kashmir in New York — on Tuesday said Hurriyat would send a peace mission to New Delhi and Islamabad to “ease the tension between the two countries”.

Mirwaiz exuded optimism about the prospects of Kashmir resolution, saying he found a “facilitating international climate” for a settlement between India and Pakistan. He said Hurriyat was poised to play an important and constructive role in the effort.

However, the Hurriyat chairman flaunted the appointment of a Kashmir envoy by OIC as an achievement and deplored New Delhi’s response to it. “New Delhi cannot ignore OIC which represents a group of 56 Islamic countries,” Mirwaiz said at a press conference here. “OIC envoy on Kashmir will act as a bridge between India and Pakistan. We feel it is time that the Indian government stops denying the existence of the problem and understands that Kashmir has an international dimension.”

He said that the OIC had offered to help both countries to move towards better relations.