Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday dismissed Farooq Abdullah's suggestion that the US, China, or any other country could possibly mediate to bring a peaceful solution to the Kashmir problem.
Mehbooba emphasised that India and Pakistan will resolve the matter bilaterally. Former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had on Friday suggested that India should explore the option of a third party to facilitate a dialogue between India and Pakistan.
She hit out at Abdullah for suggesting mediation by the United States, asking him whether he wanted the situation in Kashmir to be similar to what it was in countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq where the US had intervened.
"Be it America or China, they should mind their own business. Wherever America intervened, you see (the situation in) Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.
"China has its own vexing issue in Tibet. So, I think we have a map here which is that we, India and Pakistan, have to talk even after war. We have to talk bilaterally and what can
America, Turkey or England do with us?" Mehbooba told reporters at Anantnag in south Kashmir.
The chief minister was responding to a question on Member of Parliament Farooq Abdullah's suggestion yesterday said India should take the help of "friends" to resolve the issue.
"They have played spoilsport in major issues of the world. See what they have made up of Syria, see the situation of Afghanistan and Iraq. God forbid, does Farooq (Abdullah) want our situation similar to them? Or he wants our state to prosper?" the chief minister asked.
She said both India and Pakistan have to respect the agreements between the two countries to end the hostilities.
"We should take forward Shimla and Lahore agreements the way our elder leaders like (former PM) Indira Gandhi and (former PM Atal Bihari) Vajpayee did.
"Everyday our soldiers and people die on border and the same happens (in Pakistan) as well. Some solution should come out for (ending) this and the solution will come only then when we, both the countries, respect these agreements," she said.
The CM said that dialogue is imperative as the two countries face pressing development issues. "We have to sit together and end poverty, provide our people with electricity, water and employment. India and Pakistan have to talk to each other," she said.
(With PTI inputs)
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