Mediation is must to solve Kashmir issue, says Omar

In a surprise policy shift, National Conference president Omar Abdullah today said Kashmir was ‘‘central’’ to all issues...

In a surprise policy shift, National Conference president Omar Abdullah today said Kashmir was ‘‘central’’ to all issues between India and Pakistan and a third party mediation has become inevitable to resolve Kashmir.

The NC chief said even New Delhi has unofficially accepted third party mediation on Kashmir because 50 years of bilateralism has failed to end the logjam on the issue.

He was speaking at a seminar, organised by Kolkata-based NGO Centre for Peace and Progress, which was touted as the first in the last 15 years where separatists and mainstream politicians have shared the dais. The seminar, however, lost its sheen when PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and former Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq did not turn up at the venue.

Omar favoured a third party mediation saying ‘‘if a third party is able to convince India and Pakistan to arrive at a solution, that is acceptable to the majority of the people of J-K’’. He said in a way, New Delhi has accepted a third party mediation. ‘‘Unofficially, we sought third party mediation when the Deputy PM went to Washington and told the US President to ask Musharraf to stop cross-border terrorism.’’

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