EU commissioner calls for Kashmir peace

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU's commissioner for external affairs, said the two rivals should use the tragedy to begin rebuilding trust eroded by decades of conflict over the disputed Himalayan region.

"There's a small light in (the quake) for the difficult conflict in Kashmir," Ferrero-Waldner said after touring quake-devastated cities in the mountainous north.

"I think this is a good opportunity and ... more positive steps should be encouraged," she added.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, a desolate region that is divided between them but claimed in full by both.

Four crossing points were opened along the heavily militarised Line of Control that divides the two zones in the wake of the October 8 quake to aid the relief effort for the estimated 3.5 million homeless.