PM Modi should put pressure on Israel to end 'bloodshed' in Middle East: Omar Abdullah

Amid massive protests in the Kashmir Valley over the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to put pressure on Israel to stop the “bloodshed” in Palestine and Lebanon. 

Abdullah said the killing of Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike indicates that war is hovering around the region. He was talking to reporters in Baramulla on the sidelines of his election campaign for the third phase of assembly elections.

"What happened yesterday, it looks like war is hovering around the region. The Government of India and the prime minister along with other international leaders should put pressure on Israel to stop the killings so that peace is established in the region," Abdullah said.

Nasrallah’s death has sparked outrage in Kashmir, with people taking to the streets in Srinagar and Budgam chanting anti-Israel and anti-US slogans. Earlier in the day, People's Democratic Party (PDP) supremo Mehbooba Mufti had cancelled her poll campaign to protest Nasrallah’s killing.

Asked about the PDP chief’s decision, Abdullah refused to comment. “We have condemned the Israeli aggression on Palestinians, we have demanded that the international community should pressurise Israel to stop killing people whether it is in Palestine or Lebanon," he said.

NC's Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi had also called off his election campaign to condemn the killing of the Hezbollah chief.

Abdullah, meanwhile, blamed the BJP for the "deteriorating" security situation in Jammu region. "Militancy has raised its head in Jammu again. Today, the news of attacks in various parts of Jammu keeps coming every other day. There was laxity on their (BJP's) part. The situation has deteriorated during their term," he said.