This study examines the factors responsible for the present violent and growing militant movement with public support in the Valley of Kashmir. The use of violence by state as well as non-state actors has become the greatest obstacle to peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Although SAARC was established to promote regional peace and development, this remains a distant dream. Many authors and experts believe that Kashmir could become a Switzerland of Asia, but the hostile relations between the two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, have adversely affected stability in South Asia in general and Kashmir in particular. In this backdrop this paper studies the possible steps towards the restoration of peace and security in the Kashmir valley and the process to arrive at an acceptable solution.
