Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday spoke out against wars in the world as he questioned Israel's compulsion to attack Iran.
The J&K CM had been speaking to the media on the sidelines of the inauguration of 'Raabta', an office for grievance redressal in Jammu, as per a PTI report. Raabta has been touted as an efficient outreach platform, owing to data-driven monitoring and strategic communication.
"What exactly did Iran do that forced Israel to attack? The sooner this conflict ends, the better,” he said, in response to a question about the Israel-Iran conflict.
"Two months ago, Israel's intelligence chief said that Iran is nowhere close to building a nuclear bomb. That was the evidence then. And now, after two months, Israel has suddenly launched an attack on Iran," he added.
Abdullah was recently involved in the establishment of Operation Sindhu—India's operation to evacuate stranded Indians from conflict-ridden Iran (and now Israel)—following calls from parents of J&K-origin students who had been trapped in Iran, earlier this week.
He clarified that although the war is between Iran and Israel, more than 6,000 Indians had been trapped.
"We are evacuating them one by one. Ninety students (from J&K) have already been brought out, and another 400 have reached safer locations. Efforts are on to evacuate more than 6,000 students, out of which 1,400 are from Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
110 students evacuated from Iran via Armenia this week—of which 90 were from Jammu and Kashmir—reached Delhi on Thursday. When asked about some of their complaints regarding the condition of buses used for the evacuation, he admitted that the vehicles arranged initially weren't “up to the mark”.
The Chief Minister has taken note of the request of the students evacuated from Iran regarding the quality of buses arranged to transport them from Delhi to J&K. The Resident Commissioner has been tasked with coordinating with the JKRTC to ensure proper deluxe buses are arranged.
— Office of Chief Minister, J&K (@CM_JnK) June 19, 2025
"As soon as we were informed, we arranged proper vehicles, and they are now reaching their homes ... Officials there have been told to be more careful in the future," he explained.
The latest development in the evacuation operations sees at least 1,000 Indian students who are expected to be flown to Delhi over the next few days. Evacuation flights for stranded Indians have also been extended to Israel.
