'Kashmir Issue Unresolved, Restore Statehood': Omar Abdullah Calls for Renewed Dialogue With Centre

Srinagar: Omar Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, in a media interaction at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC), highlighted that the Kashmir issue is still unresolved and urged the Centre to restore statehood and hold fresh dialogue on Article 370.

‘Kashmir Issue Unresolved, Restore Statehood’: Omar Abdullah

While interacting with the media at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC), Omar Abdullah pointed out that the Kashmir issue remains unresolved and the Centre, as promised, must grant statehood to Jammu and Kashmir as soon as possible. The J&K CM also called for fresh, renewed dialogue with the Central government on Article 370.

In a statement, Omar Abdullah said, "We have been in power for more than 2 months now. It took us some time to understand the functioning of a government in a UT... It was easier than anticipated... We stand by the promises we made before the elections because of which people gave us the mandate to form the government... It will be of utmost importance to us to change the status of J&K. The status of UT is a temporary phase for J&K. The people of J&K participated in the assembly elections in good numbers... The union government had promised statehood as soon as possible, and we hope it will not take much time..."

J&K CM Omar Abdullah on New Govt

The chief minister said the start of the new government has been "decent" and that they "did not find much difficulty" in it. "We are bound by our election promises. We have started the process of implementing some of the promises and for other promises, we need change in the system. I hope J-K being a UT is a temporary phase," Abdullah said. "We the people are now expecting that the promises made with us will be fulfilled. The biggest promise is the restoration of the statehood. The Supreme Court in its judgement had also stated that the statehood should be restored as soon as possible. One year has passed since and we think one year should be enough," he added.

Abdullah said the sentiments of the people should be respected their aspirations should be fulfilled. Addressing reporters, the chief minister termed it an interaction, and not a press conference. "We are not making any big announcements as was being speculated on social media. We only wanted to have an interaction. We will try to answer your questions," he said. "I would like to have this kind of interaction without any agenda at least twice a year," he added.

(Inputs from PTI)