Mehbooba, Farooq not on same page on Pak

New Delhi, June 24

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday again urged the government to engage Pakistan for resolving the Kashmir issue, pointing out that the government was even talking to China.

She said if engagement with Pakistan healed the people of J&K, the government should consider it. Importantly, although NC president Farooq Abdullah distanced himself from Mufti’s remarks on Pakistan ahead of the meeting with the PM, his son Omar Abdullah defended Mufti, saying Mufti had only said what late PM Vajpayee used to say – that we cannot change our neighbours. Omar and Mufti raised at the PM’s meeting the abrogation of Article 370, terming the manner of the move unconstitutional. Post meeting, Mufti said the government must talk to Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue “if it heals the people”.