Even as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti continued to remain silent on the government formation in J&K on Monday, she welcomed the US-Iran nuclear deal and expressed hopes of a new cooperation in the region, including one between India and Pakistan.
In a statement issued in the evening, Ms. Mufti said “enterprising young boys and girls from J&K were deprived of the massive benefits of globalisation and economic liberalisation that swept the world during the past two decades”.
“The latest reconciliatory process (in the region) has generated a new hope for peace and stability in the region, which, if sustained, could throw up new economic opportunities for our people,” said Ms. Mufti.
Welcoming the rapprochement between Iran and the West, Ms. Mufti described Tehran’s historic nuclear deal “a message that there was no alternative to the process of engagement and reconciliation.”
“A new geo-political scenario emerging in the region would expand the ambit of economic and trade cooperation between India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran,” she said.
Ms. Mufti’s statement is seen as a veiled attempt to convey a message to coalition partner BJP that peace with Pakistan, as Late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed stressed time and again, will be the thrust area of the party, which continues to drag its feet on government formation in the State, which has been under governor’s rule since January 9 after Mr. Mufti’s demise on January 7.
“Fortunately the latest understanding between the world powers and Iran coincides with renewed engagement between New Delhi and Islamabad, and we hope that the rejuvenated reconciliation process would give a new direction to the efforts aimed at ensuring peace and stability in the region,” Ms. Mehbooba said.
She also said it has been the consistent opinion of the PDP that security and stability in Jammu & Kashmir “is possible only in a space provided by amity, friendship and cooperative relationship between India and Pakistan”.
“PDP’s vision of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Jammu & Kashmir outlined in its Self-Rule document is essentially about neutralising the historical, political and economic excesses with the State that were compounded by its natural and political geography,” she said.
She stressed the need to revive J&K’s traditional connectivity with the outside world.
“It could pave the way for economic and social integration of the region through a common economic market,” Ms. Mufti added.
