Kashmir issue: 'Active engagement needed with Pakistan'
CM Jammu and Kashmir says permanent solution to Kashmir issue is unlikely without active engagement with Pakistan.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah asked New Delhi to have an “active engagement” with Pakistan, saying that a permanent and lasting solution to the Kashmir issue is unlikely to emerge without Pakistan, The Times of India reported.
“A long-term and permanent solution to the Kashmir issue is unlikely to emerge without an active engagement with Pakistan. The Cross-LoC trade and the bus service between the two sides will not yield further if we do not continue with the external dialogue process,” Omar said on Saturday at the National Development Council meeting in New Delhi chaired by Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh.
The chief minister believed that the economic growth of the state was “inextricably linked” with the political resolution of the grievances and aspirations of the people and said the present global scenario and relative peace in the state was an opportunity to widen internal as well as external dialogue process.
“The outcome of a political roadmap will have great significance on the confidence of the investors also. In very brief terms, the state needs to be transformed from a securitised narrative to a political one,” he said.
“The appointment of interlocutors was a welcome step. We need to implement their recommendations without any further delay so as to effectively address the internal dimensions of the current situation.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 23rd, 2011.