No talks between India, Pakistan is destructive for Kashmir: Farooq Abdullah

Srinagar (Agency) 31 Oct: National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Saturday expressed his displeasure over the deadlock in talks between India and Pakistan, saying the two nations should not close the doors on dialogue to solve the Kashmir issue as its absence was destructive for Kashmir. Slamming the war of words between the two countries, he asked India and Pakistan to desist from making statements which were "bound to widen the gap".

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister suggested more people-to-people contact and ease visa rule for easy movement of people from either side of the Line of Control (LoC) to bridge the gap.

He asked India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to



"think alike and act in unison" to fight terrorism, without considering that one is a big nation and the other is small.

"No dialogue (between India and Pakistan) is a cause of destruction for us (Kashmir). India and Pakistan have to talk and solve the issue. The problem has to be resolved and they should not close the doors on dialogue," he said, after an interaction with a civil society delegation from cross-LoC at his Gupkar residence here.

A 50-member delegation, including 11 from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit-Baltistan, was in Srinagar for a three-day cross-LoC conference in which all stakeholders were urged to restart the processes towards resolving the Kashmir issue.