The Pakistan government, led by Prime Minister Imran Khan, must do some soul searching on India’s legitimate concerns to make way for a process of engagement on Kashmir, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah has said.
Speaking in London at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) on changing the narratives within the India-Pakistan bilateral context, Mr. Abdullah said a one-off summit-based approach was not the answer.
Calls for soul-searching
He, however, added that any hopes of a proper dialogue on the issue, “insulated from forces that are inimical to a dialogue on both sides of the border”, would have to wait for the end of India’s general election cycle in May 2019.
“While we are going through our election process, I think Pakistan needs to do a bit of soul searching in terms of addressing legitimate concerns that India has,” the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir said.
The Pakistan government’s decisions such as letting Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed “roam free” had proved a setback to the much-needed confidence building measures, Mr Abdullah said.
