Reiterating her concerns over the wellbeing of the people of her state, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on…
Mehbooba Mufti and Narendra Modi (PHOTO: TWITTER)
Reiterating her concerns over the wellbeing of the people of her state, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate peace talks with Pakistan.
“The people of J-K are the ones paying the price of enmity and partition between our nation and Pakistan. Our people are being killed on both the sides,” Mufti told media, a day after five civilians died in ceasefire violation by Pakistan.
“It’s my appeal to our PM (Modi) and Pakistan that exchange of fire should stop,” she added.
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She went on to compare Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiatives to ensure peace in the region with that of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“Steps should be taken to establish peace like Vajpayee Ji (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) did in 2003 and went to Pakistan when ceasefire violations took place,” she said.
“PM Modi also went to Pakistan but Pathankot unfortunately happened after it,” added Mufti as she stressed on forgetting what has happened in the past and starting afresh.
The Delhi-Lahore bus service was part of a peace initiative of the NDA government under Vajpayee, who himself travelled on the bus to Lahore on 19 February 1999 in its inaugural run.
In December 2015, Modi had made an unscheduled stopover in Lahore, where he was received by his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, on his way back from Russia and Afghanistan.
The gesture was seen as a major sign of positive political equation between India and Pakistan.
Relations, however, continued to plummet following theJanuary 2016 attack on Pathankot Air Force base by terrorists from Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
Ever since there have been numerous instances of ceasefire violations from Pakistan along the LoC.
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