More than 100 prominent figures from India and Pakistan have jointly appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take concrete steps to restore peace, dialogue and normal bilateral relations between the two countries.
The open letter, issued by the Centre for Peace and Progress and signed by 117 people, including 61 from India and 56 from Pakistan, comes a year after Operation Sindoor.
It urges both governments to end prolonged hostility, saying it has imposed significant social, economic and human costs on both countries.
The Indian signatories include National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, RJD MP Manoj Jha and AJUP leader Humayun Kabir.
The Pakistani signatories include former Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, former diplomat Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, National Assembly member Isphanyar Bhandara and nuclear physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy.
The letter calls for restoring full diplomatic relations, reinstating High Commissioners in New Delhi and Islamabad, resuming normal visa services and reopening airspace for commercial flights.
It also seeks the reopening of the Attari-Wagah land border for trade and travel, the revival of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service and other cross-border connectivity initiatives.
The signatories urged both governments to resume a comprehensive bilateral dialogue on all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, revisit the framework negotiated between 2004 and 2007, pursue demilitarisation and address the security concerns of both countries.
They also called for reopening the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, facilitating access to Sharada Peeth in Pakistan's Neelum Valley and easing travel to religious and cultural heritage sites.
The appeal comes even as New Delhi has maintained that any improvement in ties with Pakistan depends on an end to cross-border terrorism, asserting that "terror and talks cannot coexist" and "terror and trade cannot go hand in hand."