SRINAGAR: The BJP’s ally and J&K chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday disapproved of non-participation of some leaders in the forthcoming SAARC summit in Pakistan.
“I am dismayed over non-participation of various leaders of the region in the upcoming SAARC summit in Pakistan capital,” Mehbooba said while addressing a function organized at SKICC, here today in connection with the launch of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) in J&K.
She said it is unfortunate that while other countries are forging new economic ties, the SAARC countries are going in the reverse direction.
Mehboba, who is heading PDP-BJP coalition government in J&K, was indirectly referring to leaders of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan, who have decided not to participate in the SAARC summit in Pakistan.
Pakistan is likely to host 19th SAARC summit in November.
On the prevailing tension between India and Pakistan following deadly militant attack on army base in Uri, Mehbooba said war is never an option to resolve the issues.
“Violence has no place in modern societies. Those societies who lionize violence as a means to end their problems are doomed. We should look at places around the world where a saga of death and destruction has unfolded and is consuming anybody and everybody," she said.
Pitching for amicable relations between India and Pakistan, Mehbooba said the two countries should fight the poverty and economic deprivation plaguing the region.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Pakistan with this message on behalf of people of J&K but the Pathankote incident shattered that process,” she said.
Stressing the need of a bilateral dialogue to resolve the issues, she said the two nuclear armed neighbors must cooperate in the fields of social development, including eradication of poverty and with their growing economies and energy needs, and the need for newer, more diverse markets and trading opportunities, the future of the troubled region has to be defined by common economic interests instead of hostilities.
On reports that the Central government is in the process of reviewing the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, the CM said the agreement, while being beneficial to India and Pakistan, is not in the interest of Jammu and Kashmir.
She said if the two countries can mutually share the water resources, why not their other resources.