Shopian (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], July 2 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday backed the call for a dialogue between India and Pakistan to improve bilateral relations, asserting that there should be no objection to advocating better ties between the two neighbouring countries.
Speaking to reporters here, Omar acknowledged the tensions between the two countries, which have persisted for decades and intensified further after last year's Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 individuals lost their lives.
He questioned why similar remarks by leaders from Jammu and Kashmir invite criticism, while statements favouring dialogue by senior RSS leaders do not.
"This tension (between India and Pakistan) has persisted for the last 30 to 40 years. It escalated further following what happened in Pahalgam last year. Now, a request is being made to the Prime Minister via a letter to find a way to improve relations between the two countries; no one should have any objection to this," the Chief Minister said.
"Recently, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat stated that India and Pakistan should talk to each other and establish friendly ties. No one objects when the RSS says this, yet an uproar ensues when leaders from Jammu and Kashmir speak of it. As Atal Bihari Vajpayee used to say, one can change friends but not neighbours; we want relations between neighbours to improve," he added.
This comes after JKNC chief Farooq Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, among other eminent personalities across the two neighbouring nations, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, appealing for a dialogue between India and Pakistan.
Mufti also welcomed the remarks by the RSS leadership demanding talks between the two neighbouring countries.
Mufti told ANI on Wednesday, "I am pleased that senior RSS leadership, including figures like Dattatreya Hosabale and Mohan Bhagwat, along with several other leaders, have stated that there should be talks with Pakistan. There should be the movement of people, mutual interaction, and an exchange of ideas. It echoes exactly what Vajpayee ji said: 'You can change your friends, but not your neighbours.' I feel this sentiment is gaining endorsement. We have written letters to the Prime Ministers of both India and Pakistan."
Former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief Amarjit Singh Dulat has also advocated for restarting diplomatic conversations with Pakistan, arguing that New Delhi must directly confront Islamabad on its soil-based terrorism.
However, BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Sunil Sharma criticised the calls, saying that the timing was inappropriate when terrorism was on the decline. The BJP leader asserted that matters related to engagement with Pakistan fall solely within the domain of the Centre.
While India and Pakistan have had soured relations since the partition in 1947, the ties plummeted to a historic low following the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025, that claimed the lives of 26 civilians.