"War not an option": Mehbooba Mufti advocates for diplomacy between India, Pakistan
Srinagar, May 20: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday asserted that war was not even a "last option" given that India was a nuclear power. She said the central government should have sent the multi-party delegation earlier, after the Pahalgam attack, to apprise other countries about the country's ordeal.
"What the government of India is doing today - sending delegations to different countries- it should have been done earlier to raise awareness in other countries about what has happened and what could be done. War is not an option, not even a last option, when you are a nuclear power," Mufti, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, told ANI.
Mufti said that this war was not between civilians, but between two countries. She suggested that the conflict could have been resolved by political intervention and diplomacy.
"The government must do many things, as it is not our war. It's between two countries - the thing that could have been sorted out by political intervention and diplomacy - where a knife was needed, you put out the sword. What is there to gain from it?" she asked.
She further said that both countries need to understand that war is not a solution since it only brings destruction, while the lives of people in border areas are affected.
"I hope that both countries understand that war is not a solution. War brings destruction, and it just increases media TRPs. The lives of the people living in the border areas, especially from J&K, get destroyed," Mufti said.
"We lost 27-28 people in Pahalgam, and then we lost more people. Many of the houses were destroyed, and our city, Poonch, has been destroyed. Children and women were killed, and those militants involved in Pahalgam are yet to be caught. What have we achieved then?" she added.
Earlier, Mufti welcomed the central government's decision of sending an all-party delegation to key global capitals to brief different countries on the recent India-Pakistan tension. She said that while diplomatic outreach by India in the wake of Operation Sindoor is a good step but the Centre should have called a Parliament session and held a discussion with the parliamentarians.
