New Delhi: Former Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday asked the federal government to clear the air around former Norwegian prime minister (PM) Kjell Mangne Bondevik’s recent visit to Kashmir during which he met several separatist leaders in the state.
National Conference (NC) leader Abdullah took to Twitter asking External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval to put Bondevik’s visit in “correct perspective.”
“What are the Norwegians up to in Kashmir? Would either Sushma Swaraj or Ajit Doval care to put the visit of the former Norwegian PM to both sides of the divided state in the correct context or do we have to rely on rumours and conjecture?” Abdullah tweeted.
Bondevik, who was invited through the organisation of spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, had last Friday met separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in the valley.
He later visited Pakistan-administered Kashmir and met local people and leaders there.
Meanwhile, separatist outfit Hurriyat released a statement mentioning that the Norwegian delegation had assured that “they would use their good offices to ensure a sustained and result-oriented dialogue between India and Pakistan for an amicable solution on Kashmir.”
The Hurriyat leaders explained to Bondevik the prevailing situation in Kashmir. They termed the situation in the state as “fragile and very sensitive.”
Fruitful meeting
Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani asked the former Norwegian PM to make serious efforts to resolve the vexed Kashmir dispute and mitigate the sufferings of the people.
“There was a fruitful meeting of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) with Mr Kjell Magne Bondevik, former Prime Minister of Norway. As Norway is known to play a constructive role in conflict resolution across the globe, we urged Mr Bondevik to help in ending the daily killings and urgent resolution of the festering Kashmir dispute,” Farooq said in a separate statement.
On Tuesday, Congress also questioned the Narendra Modi-government on allowing “third-party mediation” in Kashmir.
“The government has compromised on national security by allowing third party mediation. We demand that Modi government answers why the former prime minister of a third country was holding talks with separatists, when India had always treated Kashmir as a bilateral issue,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala tweeted.
