Srinagar: Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned government of India’s unwilling to look at engagement or political initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We bat for talks with taliban, autonomy for Tibet & Tamil areas of Sri Lanka yet we are unwilling to look at engagement or political initiatives in J&K. Why is our policy all about “do as we say, don’t do as we do”? Engagement for Taliban, Operation All-Out for Kashmir,” Omar tweeted in response to the remarks by Army Chief Bipin Rawat.
Speaking at Raisina Dialogue 2019, a multilateral conference on international policy matters, Army chief General Bipin Rawat backed talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan, and called for “international curbs on regular and social media” to counter radicalization in reference to youth of Jammu and Kashmir.
General Rawat said any dialogue with the Taliban should involve no conditions. Any concessions, he added, would give the other side the notion that they were talking from a position of strength and victory.
“There should be talks with Taliban so long as they don’t come with pre-conditions and so long as they are looking at lasting peace in Afghanistan and bring about stability in that country,” he said.
“It is in our interest, region’s interest, and in Pakistan’s interest. We all want stability,” he added.
The Army chief was responding to a question on whether he was concerned about Pakistan once again finding its way into Afghanistan by facilitating discussions between the US and the Taliban.
Rawat’s comments on talks with the Taliban come at a time when the government forces have intensified operations in Jammu & Kashmir against militant groups, with 2018 seeing a record number of militant kills.
The General sought to warn against the increasing radicalisation of youth in Kashmir, putting much of the blame on “misinformation spread through social and conventional media.”
