No space for third party mediation: Mehbooba
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti Saturday took a dig at former CM and NC president, Farooq Abdullah, for seeking a third party intervention on Kashmir issue.
Mehbooba slammed the statement of Farooq Abdullah in which he had asked India to seek help of US and China to mediate over the Kashmir issue. “ There can be no place for a third party intervention in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mufti told reporters in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district. “Let America and China mind their own business. Look at the places America has interfered in, be it Afghanistan, Syria, or Iraq. While China has its own problems to deal with in Tibet, we have the Lahore Declaration and the Shimla Agreement with us,” she said.
“When we have to resolve the issue together (India and Pakistan), then why do we need any third party”? Mufti asked. Former CM, Farooq Abdullah, had on Friday said that “ it is time India approaches a third party like China or the United States to referee the Kashmir conflict.’’ NC working president, Omar Abdullah, hinted that his father’s statements on the matter were misreported.
“For how long are you going to wait?” Abdullah was quoted as saying. “Sometimes, you have to pull the bull by its horns. The way is to have a dialogue.” He added that as India has many friends across the world, it can ask them to act as a mediator. “US President Trump himself said that he wants to settle Kashmir problem. China also said that it wants to mediate in Kashmir,” he added.
On Twitter, Omar Abdullah took on critics accusing his father of making inappropriate statements. “This is what I mean. Twist remarks out of shape so that the original intent and message is completely distorted,” Omar Abdullah tweeted.
“The stubbornness exhibited by both nations will not lead us anywhere,”Farooq Abdullah said. He further quoted former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and said, “Friends can be changed, but not neighbours cant. One can move forward while maintaining friendship or can regress by becoming enemies.”
Farooq Abdullah’s statement, however, evoked mixed reactions from many. Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh condemned it and said, “The Prime Minister is personally monitoring the situation in Kashmir, wants people to prosper and tread on path of development.’’
KV Correspondent
