Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 24: National Conference president and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah today batted for friendly ties between India and Pakistan but cautioned that there were elements across the border that do not want peace.
“Be it today, tomorrow or after 10 years, it is important for us to have friendship with Pakistan.
“See, we have a border area and when there is shelling who suffers? The people of Delhi don’t suffer, it is the people who live here along the border that suffer,” Abdullah said on the sidelines of inauguration of a private hospital at Akhnoor today.
Noting that people have to leave their houses, land and cattle behind and run to save their lives during shelling, he said, “When will all this end? There is no way forward but only friendship.”
However, Abdullah said there were “some people” across the border, who don’t want friendship between the two countries.
“Yes, there are some people across the border who don’t want friendship and to defeat them we should adopt the path of dialogue which would weaken the forces that don’t want peace between India and Pakistan,” Dr Abdullah said.
To a question regarding Government formation in the State, the NC chief said with only 15 members in the Assembly his party does not have the mandate to form it.
“See, NC does not have mandate and with 15 people we cannot form the Government and I don’t feel that we can go ahead with the BJP or the PDP. After the election results came out, Omar Abdullah had proposed an alliance but other parties refused it,” he said.
Abdullah also said that former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had a dream to keep all the three regions of the State together.
“Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had a dream to keep Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh together. When the voting pattern was known to him only then he decided to join hands with the BJP and wanted to take this State forward,” he said.
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