SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that the Government of India (GoI) won’t talk to Pakistan until it stops abetting militancy.
In an interview with a wire agency, Omar said, “It will be foolish for any of us to suggest that what J&K has been witnessing is purely indigenous without any outside assistance whatsoever.” Asked if Pakistan is still meddling in the region, the Chief Minister said, “I don’t think Pakistan has ever stopped meddling in J&K.”
He said that his party, the National Conference, has always tried to take Pakistan on board to address the concerns of the GoI so that a friendly working relationship could be established. When asked if he sees this working relationship with Pakistan happening, the J&K Chief Minister said, “I don’t see it happening.”
Replying to a query on whether he has ever advised the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in New Delhi to hold talks with Pakistan, Omar said, “At the moment, I don’t see any scope of India holding talks with Pakistan.”
“There is no scope when you have the sort of attacks that you have had in J&K over the past few years, the way security forces and construction camps have been targeted. It becomes very difficult to tell the GoI that it has to talk.”
Meanwhile, reacting to US President Donald Trump questioning the need to spend money on voter turnout in India, Omar told reporters in Jammu that “The Election Commission should clarify its stand on reports that the US spent USD 21 million for voter turnout in India.”
Omar said that, till now, there was no proof of foreign interference but was quick to add, “The Election Commission has to clarify whether foreign interference had taken place or not.”
Notably, Donald Trump, after taking over as the United States President, has been speculating that money was spent on voter turnout in India and that the erstwhile Biden administration was attempting to “get somebody else elected” in the country. (KNO)
