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Updated: Dec 01, 2018 20:34 IST

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking opening of the Sharda Peeth pilgrimage route across the Line of Control (LOC) .

After the ground breaking ceremony was held for Kartarpur corridor, the clamour for a corridor to Sharda Peeth has grown in the state.

The PDP president said her party has always considered people-to-people contact between India and Pakistan as an important confidence building measure.

Read: Allow Sharda Peeth pilgrimage too, Mehbooba urges India and Pakistan

‘’Sharda peeth is an outstanding relic of Kashmir’s glowing history. For Kashmiri pandits it is an important place of pilgrimage which was frequented by them till independence. Their urge to open it to pilgrimage has been projected ever since the reopening of Srinagar Muzaffarabad Road,” she said.

People's Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti writes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for opening of Sharda Peeth pilgrimage in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir pic.twitter.com/lvbfdHLe9e — ANI (@ANI) December 1, 2018

“Kartarpur has encouraged the (Kashmiri) Pandit community to see a possibility of the Pilgrimage to Shardapeeth in the same spirit and our belief is strengthened by the reported offer of Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan to allow it along with pilgrimage to Katas Raj,” the PDP president said in the letter.

Soon after sending the letter to PM Modi, Mehbooba Mufti in a tweet urged him to consider the opening of Sharda Peeth route for better peace in the region.

Wrote to PM @narendramodi for opening of Sharda Peeth route for facilitating the Pandit community. I hope like Kartarpur, this too will be considered for better peace & prosperity in the region. — Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) December 1, 2018

After India and Pakistan laid the foundations for the Kartarpur Corridor on Wednesday, Mehbooba Mufti had urged the two countries to facilitate pilgrimage to the Sharda Peeth in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK).

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She had urged the PM to consider the offer made by his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan for opening of Sharda Peeth and Katasraj and other shrines to bridge gap between the two neighbouring nations.

Sharda Peeth, which has ruins of a temple to Hindu goddess Saraswati (also known as Sharda), is located close to Kishen Ganga river in the Neelam Valley in PoK, around 150 km from Muzaffarabad. The site is very significant for Kashmiri Pandits, who have been demanding to be allowed to visit the shrine.