M A I N   N E W S

Don’t close doors to talks: Azad
Cong team assesses J&K situation

SRINAGAR, Aug 13 (PTI) — The Congress today accused Pakistan of being ‘insensitive’ to the bloodshed in Kashmir and asked Islamabad to stop trans-border terrorism to pave the way for a dialogue with New Delhi.

“If Pakistan is really serious about a dialogue with India, it should stop trans-border terrorism to pave the way for talks,” AICC General Secretary and MP, Ghulam Nabi Azad, told mediapersons here.

He accused Pakistan of being “insensitive” to the ongoing bloodshed in Kashmir and said if the Hizbul Mujahideen could go for a unilateral ceasefire, why could not Pakistan stop trans-border terrorism and direct its militants in Kashmir to go for a ceasefire.

He said the Congress was in favour of continuation of peace talks. “Doors for talks should not be shut. The government should use its political and diplomatic skills to initiate talks with Pakistan,” he added.

Ruling out third-party intervention in Kashmir, he said the Congress considered Kashmir a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.

On the tripartite talks demanded by the Hizbul Mujahideen and the Hurriyat Conference, Mr Azad said: “Let Pakistan stop trans-border terrorism.”

Mr Azad was here as the head of a 10-member Congress delegation to make an on-the-spot assessment of the situation arising out of escalation of violence in Kashmir and the car blast in Srinagar on Thursday.

On the abrupt end of talks with the Hizbul Mujahideen, Mr Azad said “these talks failed as the Hizbul Mujahideen was in a hurry. They set August 8 as the deadline. It was a non-serious effort to set a deadline for meeting their demands.”

Mr Azad appealed to the Centre, the Hizbul Mujahideen and Hurriyat leaders not to close their doors for peace talks and said it should make fresh attempts to resume the dialogue.

He welcomed the statement by Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah that he was prepared to dissolve the Assembly and order fresh elections if the Hizbul Mujahideen was prepared for talks.

On the controversy regarding talks within the framework of the Constitution, the Congress leader said, “Outside the Constitution is not the criterion” as the Prime Minister had made it amply clear in Parliament recently.

About autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Azad said the state government took a hasty step in passing a resolution in the Assembly without taking into confidence other political parties in the state.