National Conference MP Farooq Abdullah said India could meet the same fate as Gaza and Palestine, which are being bombed by Israeli forces, if it doesn't find a solution through dialogue with Pakistan.
In the statement, which is expected to draw reactions from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister also said, “If we remain friendly with our neighbours, both will progress.”
He urged the leaders of both India and Pakistan to find a solution to their bilateral issues through dialogue.
“Atal Bihari Vajpayee (former PM) had said we can change our friends but not our neighbours. If we remain friendly with our neighbours, both will progress. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said war is not an option now and the matters should be resolved through dialogue,” news agency ANI quoted Farooq Abdullah as saying.
"Where is the dialogue? Nawaz Sharif is about to become the PM (of Pakistan) and they are saying that we are ready to talk (with India), but what is the reason why we are not ready to talk? If we do not find a solution through dialogue, we will meet the same fate as Gaza and Palestine, which are being bombed by Israel...," Abdullah added.
{{/usCountry}}"Where is the dialogue? Nawaz Sharif is about to become the PM (of Pakistan) and they are saying that we are ready to talk (with India), but what is the reason why we are not ready to talk? If we do not find a solution through dialogue, we will meet the same fate as Gaza and Palestine, which are being bombed by Israel...," Abdullah added.
{{/usCountry}}Abdullah's statement comes against the the drop of recent incidents in which five Indian Army soldiers were killed in an ambush in Poonch, a retired police officer was shot dead inside a Baramulla mosque and three civilians were found dead after troops detained them for questioning.
Senior BJP leader Hina Shafi Bhat hit back at the NC leader, saying it is regrettable that a senior leader from Jammu and Kashmir is still talking about talks with Pakistan. "Farooq saab should learn now, this regime is not going to bow down before Pakistan. We tried, they have backstabbed us again and again," NDTV quoted Bhat as saying.
Earlier, Abdullah slammed the BJP's claims of normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir since its special status was revoked in 2019.
"Shouting normalcy or propagating tourist arrivals as peace will not finish terrorism. They were claiming that terrorism has finished with the abrogation of Article 370 (in 2019) but four years down the line, terrorism is still there and will not finish till we try to understand its root cause," he had said on Sunday.
"I regret the killing (of the officer). Those who are claiming normalcy are silent... they tried to heal the wounds in a superficial manner rather than addressing the root cause. The commoners should understand that we are losing our soldiers, officers and commoners," Abdullah said.
In 1999, Vajpayee visited Pakistan just a few months before the Kargil War began. In 2015, Modi held a meeting with Nawaz in Pakistan during a surprise visit to the country. Pakistan's continuous attempts to infiltrate Indian territory with terrorists have been the reason for unfriendly relations.
The 26/11 Mumbai attacks left an unending outrage and pain among Indians. India-Pakistan ties nosedived after the abrogation of Article 370 in the year 2019.
Condemning the killing of the retired senior police officer in Baramulla, the National Conference patriarch said that terrorism would not end through operations by the security forces.
"We were part of India and will forever remain so. If we have to end terrorism, we've got to find ways through which it could be ended. The central government should realise that terrorism cannot be defeated through operations of the security forces," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.
Earlier, mourning the loss of the deceased retired police officer, Abdulkareem Mir, the younger brother of Shafi, told news agency ANI, "He was the senior superintendent of police (SSP) and retired from service in 2012. He was a regular at the mosque for 'Aazan'. However, this morning, Shafi (the muezzin, who calls fellow Muslims to prayer) stopped suddenly in between his call for Aazan. At first, we thought that the microphone had stopped working. However, later, we learned to our absolute shock and dismay that he had been fatally shot."
Over 20,000 killed in Gaza
Abdullah made the remarks amid rising pressure on Israel to scale back the conflict in Gaza, which began following Hamas’s October 7 assault on southern Israeli communities that killed 1,200 people — with Hamas militants kidnapping scores of Israelis.
More than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Much of the Palestinian enclave has been flattened by Israeli airstrikes and the UN has said the humanitarian situation is dire.
(With inputs from agencies)