Srinagar: A day after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti asked the centre to engage Pakistan in talks, the ruling BJP on Tuesday said that dialogue was not possible unless the situation become conducive in the state.
“Talks and militancy cannot go together. Pakistan should stop its soil from being used against India,” BJP State General Secretary Ashok Koul said. He said that the situation was not conducive to hold talks. “Pakistan must create a conducive environment for talks. Once the situation is favorable only than talks will be held,” Koul said. “It is the responsibility for Pakistan how it will create a conducive environment for dialogue,” he added.
Reiterating her demand for peaceful engagement with all stakeholders in this regard, Mehbooba on Monday sought more frequent meetings at the highest levels between India and Pakistan.
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She had called on Narendra Modi in New Delhi and apprised him of the situation in the state, stressing on the need to end the cycle of violence by addressing alienation among the youth.
Mehbooba’s meeting with Modi comes three days after she appealed to the country’s leadership to listen to the voices of pain from the state.
“Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday and apprised him about the overall situation in Jammu and Kashmir,” an official spokesman had said.
He said the chief minister stressed on “finding ways and means to end the cycle of violence in the state by addressing the element of alienation among the youth”.
She said the people of the state, having suffered immensely during the turmoil of the past three decades, were looking up to the country’s political leadership to support them in getting out of the cycle of uncertainty and deaths.
“She also favoured the idea that the two Army commands be in touch to minimise tensions across the borders in the state which has affected people living in these areas,” the spokesman had said.
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Mehbooba also pleaded for taking the cross-Line of Control movement to the next level by working on opening more historic routes across the LoC and movement of more people to build public confidence in peaceful engagements.
“Implementation of the Agenda of Alliance (between the PDP and the BJP), execution of the Prime Minister’s Development Plan (PMDP) and other mega developmental projects in the state came up for discussion during the meeting,” the spokesman had said.
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(With inputs from KNS)
