HELP US BRING PEACE TO J&K: MEHBOOBA TO PAK

SRINAGAR:Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday asked Pakistan to stop supporting militancy in the state and enable restoration of peace so that a dialogue process could begin.

“It is my appeal to those across (the border) that they should renew the policy of not supporting militancy or the gun that they had adopted during (Prime Minister Atal Bihari) Vajpayee’s time,” she said addressing an election meeting in Dooru in Anantnag constituency.

“Help us restore peace in Jammu and Kashmir and then talks will take place here and across as well,” she added.

Mehbooba was addressing an election rally in Dooru Anantnag in south Kashmir along with her brother Mufti Tassaduq, who is the PDP candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha bypolls.

The chief minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Pakistan in December 2015 had rekindled hopes of improving relations between New Delhi and Islamabad.

“Narendra Modi went on his own to Lahore to meet Nawaz Sharif. A new hope was attached to it but unfortunately Pathankot (terror attack) happened,” she said.

“These (tense) times will not last forever. Vajpayeeji used to say that you can change friends but not the neighbours. We have to live with each other cordially,” she added.

She added that doors of dialogue can open only if peace prevails. “Once peace is there, only then there can be dialogue,” she said.

Talking about the local issues of Jammu and Kashmir, the chief minister said unemployment was a major challenge of the present times.

“Creation of more job opportunities for the local youth is a priority for my government,” Mehbooba said.