Indian Army chief recently stated that negotiations should be held with the Afghan Taliban for restoring peace in Afghanistan. Former J&K CM’s Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti questioned if India is willing to talk to the Afghan Taliban then why not Hurriyat Conference and Pakistan?
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“We bat for talks with Taliban, autonomy for Tibet and Tamil areas of Sri Lanka, yet we are unwilling to look at engagement or political initiatives in J&K,” Omar tweeted. He was reacting to Indian Army chief’s Bipin Rawat’s statement on favouring talks with Taliban for bringing peace to Afghanistan.
“Why is our policy all about “do as we say, don’t do as we do”? Engagement for Taliban, Operation All-Out for Kashmir,” he said. The Indian forces have launched “Operation All Out” against militants in Jammu and Kashmir in 2017 after a surge in militant violence. About 500 militants have been killed in two years. The security officials said,
Reacting to army chief’s statement, PDP president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti tweeted, “If General Rawat can advocate for talks with Taliban then why different standards when it comes to our own people?” “Accept peace offer from Pakistan, initiate dialogue with Hurriyat and other stakeholders to put an end to the vicious cycle of violence in J&K,” she said.
Experts that EurAsian Times talked to stated the stance of the Indian Government. The experts stated that India can and should negotiate with the Afghan Taliban but Kashmir is non-negotiable for New Delhi. The Indian Government is open talking to Hurriyat Conference but they should not act as Pakistani pawns and there should be no pre-conditions to achieve peace process in Kashmir.
