NC MP calls for Indo-Pak dialogue on Kashmir

SRINAGAR: National Conference (NC) MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi reaffirmed Saturday his party’s call for resumption of dialogue and diplomatic ties with Pakistan to resolve what he called the “unsettled issue” of Kashmir. “People of J&K believe that settling the situation here permanently needs a proper dialogue between Pakistan and India,” he said.

However, external affairs minister S Jaishankar had said earlier in the week that “the era of uninterrupted dialogue is over” and cautioned Pakistan about the repercussions it would face if it continued to support terrorist attacks against India.

J&K’s first assembly elections in a decade are being held amid a rise in Pakistan-backed terrorism. The escalation resulted in 18 security force fatalities since May and the killing of over 20 Pakistani terrorists in counteroffensives.

In its manifesto for the J&K assembly elections, former CM Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP has also pledged to advocate for “diplomatic initiatives between India and Pakistan”, as well as the establishment of “trade and social exchange”.

The MP, representing Srinagar-Budgam, also highlighted his party’s stand on restoring statehood for J&K, which was lost after the revocation of Article 370 in 2019 and the region’s bifurcation into two Union territories, including Ladakh. PDP has a similar position.

“PDP can’t run away after making such a statement. But it doesn’t have a roadmap. In contrast, NC has a proper roadmap and it wants the proper restoration of autonomy here,” Mehdi said.

He also criticised NDA govt as being anti-minority and urged Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to “stand up for Muslims” to preserve India’s diversity. Mehdi comes from a prominent family of Shia clerics and lost his father Aga Syed Mehdi, a pro-India politician with Congress, in a 2000 IED explosion near their hometown Budgam.