‘Talks Going On Quietly’: Mehbooba on India-Pak Relations

Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday claimed that India and Pakistan have been engaged in quiet backchannel discussions for the past three months, even as political rhetoric between the two countries remains sharply confrontational in public.

Addressing a gathering in Poonch, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief said unofficial engagements involving retired diplomats, former military officials and other intermediaries were allegedly taking place abroad to facilitate discussions between the two sides.

“They talk about Operation Sindoor. But do you know that for the last three months, secret talks with Pakistan have been going on quietly behind the scenes?” Mehbooba said, adding that dialogue remained essential to resolving issues related to Jammu and Kashmir.

The former chief minister reiterated her party’s long-standing position that sustained engagement between India, Pakistan and stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir was the only path towards lasting peace in the region.

Invoking the legacy of her father and former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Mehbooba said his “roadmap” of reconciliation, cross-border engagement and political dialogue continued to offer a viable framework for peace.

She referred to cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade and travel initiatives introduced during the PDP-Congress government, including the Rawalakot-Poonch route, saying the objective was to promote economic activity and reduce violence in border regions.

“We opened the Rawalakot route because we wanted trade and business to flourish. Goods would go from here, and money would come from there instead of guns,” she said.

The PDP leader also criticised the Centre over the 2019 Abrogation of Article 370, under which Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status was revoked and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.