India-Pak close to resolving Kashmir issue during Manmohan Singh’s period: CM Omar

Jammu, Mar 3: Praising the former Prime Minister of India, Late Manmohan Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said that during his tenure, both the countries (India-Pakistan) were very close to resolving the Kashmir issue and said that he would not be to see it happening again in his lifetime.

Asserting that former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf and Manmohan Singh had made significant progress in resolving the Kashmir issue, Abdullah said, “Manmohan Singh as a Prime Minister tried to solve the Kashmir issue by carrying forward the legacy of the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.”

“He (Manmohan Singh) could have stopped the process of dialogue but instead, he continued shouldering it as a huge responsibility,” said Chief Minister Abdullah speaking on obituary references in the House on the first day of the Budget session of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

Paying tributes to the former Prime Minister, an emotional Abdullah said, “At a point, India and Pakistan had almost come close to resolving the Kashmir issue during Manmohan Singh’s tenure but I think it can never be reached now.”

“I don’t think I will ever see it happening again in my lifetime as close as we came to resolving it during that period,” he said.

Referring to the 2010 situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said that working groups were formed to heal the wounds of the people and even at present, similar exercise is important.

However, referring to the world’s highest railway bridge constructed on the River Chenab, Abdullah said, “We are waiting for the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) to inaugurate it and the dream of the train to Kashmir fulfills soon but I want to say that the work of connecting Kashmir with the rest of the World started at the time of the Banihal tunnel and I was on board with the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the train.”

“Construction of the bridge on river Chenab started during the tenure of Dr. Manmohan Singh,” he said, adding that it is unfortunate that he did not live long enough to see the train passing from the bridge.

On the simplicity of Manmohan Singh, Abdullah said, “studied under the street lights, he reached Oxford and Cambridge and started his life as an officer but reached the position of the Prime Minister.”

“Manmohan Singh has played a key role in stabilizing and making India’s economy one of the strongest at the global level not only as the Prime Minister but also as the Finance expert and Minister,” he added.

Omar said, “he ended the License Permit Raj, and took social welfare measures like Indira Awas Yojana and MGNREGA, which are commendable.”

On Kashmiri Pandits, Abdullah said, “Manmohan Singh during his tenure settled the community at the biggest Jagti Township colony in Jammu and also reserved jobs for them.”

Abdullah recalled Manmohan Singh’s farewell press conference and said, “Manmohan, in his last press conference, said, ‘History will be a better judge of me than contemporary times.’ All world leaders respected him.”

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will be presenting the budget for the first time in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on March 7 as he holds the Finance portfolio.

The previous five budgets were presented and passed by Parliament in the absence of the Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir, while the then governor Satya Pal Malik led the state administrative council to pass the budget for 2019-2020 following the fall of the PDP-BJP government in June 2018.

This will be the second assembly session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly since the formation of the National Conference-led government in the Union Territory.

Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly met in Srinagar from November 4 to 8, within 20 days after the formation of the government, but witnessed continuous disruption by the BJP over the passing of the resolution by the National Conference seeking restoration of special status.