Mehbooba Mufti wants Modi government to also talk to Islamabad on Kashmir: ‘If they can talk to Taliban, why not Pakistan?’

• Shubham
• 22 June, 2021

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By: Shubham Ghosh

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday (22) said prime minister Narendra Modi should hold talks with Pakistan for a resolution to the controversy and give peace a chance in the region. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Gupkar alliance, she said if the Indian government could go to Doha to hold talks with the Taliban, it should have a dialogue with the leaders of Jammu and Kashmir as well as the neighbouring country to find a resolution.

“If they can go to Doha and talk to the Taliban, they should have a dialogue with us and with Pakistan too in order to bring about a resolution,” Mufti, daughter of late Kashmir’s political stalwart Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, said.

Mufti, who is the vice-chair of the alliance, made the remark two days ahead of the crucial meeting that Modi has called featuring leaders of Jammu and Kashmir in New Delhi. She said during meeting with the prime minister, the leaders will press for demand to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.

Political activism gained steam in Jammu and Kashmir, the special status of which was abrogated by the Centre in August 2019 and it was bifurcated into Union Territories, with the local parties holding discussions after New Delhi invited their leaders for the meeting with the prime minister.

Mehbooba has given similar call in the past too
This is not the first time, however, that Mufti has asked the Centre to hold dialogue with Pakistan to find a solution to the Kashmir problem. In November last year, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party and said elections were not the solution to the region’s problems.

The 62-year-old leader, who ran a government in alliance with the BJP for a little over two years in 2016-18, said while the Indian government was holding several rounds of talks with China despite it taking much of India’s land (she said referring to the military and diplomatic talks between India and China amid the standoff in Ladakh sector), there was no similar step vis-à-vis Pakistan despite people dying at the borders. Are there no talks with Pakistan because it is a Muslim country, she had asked then.