India, Pakistan must resolve issues through dialogue: Rajya Sabha member
Srinagar: Member of Indian upper house of parliament, Rajya Sabha, and senior National Conference leader Chowdry Mohammad Ramzan has said that India and Pakistan should resolve their issues through dialogue to end ongoing tensions and ensure lasting peace and stability in the region.
According to Kashmir Media Service, talking to reporters on the sidelines of a party convention in Budgam, Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Ramzan said peace between the two neighbours was essential for progress and development, and that poverty and unemployment remained the major challenges for people on both sides of the border. He noted that voices in favour of dialogue were emerging from different quarters, citing recent remarks by RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale and former Army Chief Gen. M.M. Naravane.
Hosabale had said India must keep channels of communication with Pakistan open. Naravane backed greater people-to-people contact, saying ordinary people on both sides “have nothing to do with politics.”
Ramzan said NC president Farooq Abdullah had repeatedly advocated engagement between the two countries to restore peace. “As long as there is no peace between the two countries, there can be no progress,” he said, adding that more people would support dialogue in the coming days.
The NC leader also reiterated his party’s stand for prohibition of alcohol in Kashmir, stating there should be no “two opinions” on banning drugs and alcohol. He accused the PDP of adopting a different stand while in power and said no serious effort was made by the PDP government to impose prohibition.
