Former Jammu-Kashmir Chief Minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti said that it is good if Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is a proxy of Pakistan Army.
Her contention was that in such a scenario there will be a greater chance for peace in Kashmir.
“People keep saying Imran Khan is a proxy for Army. If he is that, that is better because Army and he will be on the same page and if he is saying that stop, let’s have a dialogue, let’s go for reconciliation, that’s all the better,” she said.
She also blamed the turmoil in Kashmir and the troubled India-Pak relationship on India’s domestic politics.
“We may have to wait (for peace) because of domestic politics. Kashmir and India aren’t made an issue in Pakistan during election but in India, unfortunately, politics is such that tougher your stance towards Pak and Kashmir, more votes you expect to get. That’s the problem,” she said.
Mufti was speaking on ‘Kashmir – The Way Forward’ at the Observer Research Foundation in Mumbai.
Commenting on the PDP-BJP alliance in the state, Muft said that her father, Muft Mohammad Sayeed, had a “great vision and he wanted PM Narendra Modi to carry forward the political process started by the late former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee”.
“We thought that it’ll damage us politically but we’ll be able to take Kashmiris out of the mess they’re in. That was the real purpose and we staked everything,” Mufti further stated.
The BJP pulled out of the ruling coalition in June thus plunging the state into Governor’s Rule.