Mehbooba Mufti welcomes RSS call for India-Pakistan dialogue, says it vindicates PDP stand
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Mehbooba Mufti welcomes RSS call for India-Pakistan dialogue, says it vindicates PDP stand")
Mehbooba Mufti welcomes RSS call for India-Pakistan dialogue, says it vindicates PDP stand Photograph: (Credit: ANI)
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti welcomes RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale's call for India-Pakistan dialogue, stating it vindicates the long-standing peace roadmap of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti welcomed the recent statement by the RSS leadership advocating dialogue with Pakistan, saying the remarks vindicate the long-held position of the PDP on keeping channels of communication open to ensure peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing a press conference, Mufti said the statement by the RSS General Secretary on engaging Pakistan was a “welcome step” and reflected the practical realities of regional peacebuilding.
“It vindicates the stand of the PDP that if we have to bring peace in Jammu and Kashmir, the window of dialogue must remain open,” Mufti said. Referring to PDP founder Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, she noted that he had consistently advocated engagement between India and Pakistan as the only sustainable path to stability in the region.
Invoking former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mufti recalled his famous remark that “you can change your friends but not your neighbours,” stressing that peaceful coexistence required continuous dialogue between the two countries.
“It is a good thing if the RSS has said that India needs to hold dialogue with Pakistan,” she said. “Even globally, we are seeing that after prolonged conflicts, countries eventually return to the negotiating table.” Drawing parallels with recent tensions involving Iran, the United States and Israel, Mufti argued that diplomacy and engagement ultimately become unavoidable.
She also referred to earlier phases of India-Pakistan engagement during the tenures of Vajpayee and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying those periods had brought relative calm to Jammu and Kashmir. “Whenever dialogue between India and Pakistan happened, the situation here moved towards peace,” she said.
Turning to domestic politics, Mufti rejected criticism from leaders of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference over the PDP’s governance record. She said the PDP had governed Jammu and Kashmir only twice and never with the kind of “huge mandate” enjoyed by the National Conference.
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She also targeted the National Conference over the power sector, calling it Jammu and Kashmir’s “biggest source of revenue.” Mufti accused successive NC governments of transferring major hydroelectric power projects to the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation. “Even recently, Omar Abdullah handed two power projects to NHPC,” she alleged. “Had these projects remained with Jammu and Kashmir, the government would not have had to depend on liquor revenue.”
