National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday slammed the Centre for not talking to Pakistan to settle disputes, adding that India could meet the same fate as Gaza without dialogue.
"Atal Bihari Vajpayee had said that we can change our friends but not out neighbours. If we remain friendly with our neighbours both will progress," the Srinagar MP told ANI.
"Prime Minister Modi also said that war is not an option now and the matters should be resolved through dialogue. Where is the dialogue? Nawaz Sharif is about to become Prime Minister (of Pakistan) and they are saying that we are ready to talk, but what is the reason why we are not ready to talk? If we don't find a solution through dialogue, we will meet the same fate as Gaza and Palestine, which are being bombed by Israel," he added.
On Sunday, Abdullah said terrorism is alive in Jammu and Kashmir and it cannot be finished by the use of military or police, urging the central government to find ways to address the root cause of the menace.
"Shouting normalcy or propagating tourist arrivals as peace will not finish terrorism which is still alive. They were claiming that terrorism has finished with the abrogation of Article 370 (in 2019) but four years down the line, terrorism is still there and will not finish till we try to understand its root cause," Abdullah had said.
His statements come after Mohd Shafi, a retired police officer, was shot dead by terrorists while praying in a mosque in Baramullah. Five soldiers were also killed in an ambush in Poonch and three civilians detained by troops for questioning were also killed in the past one week.
