Mehbooba Mufti lauded China and Pakistan for the CPEC project, which India has vehemently opposed.PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti claimed that if India can’t even become the SAARC grouping’s guru, it should forget about being the world’s guru. Her comments are sure to spark a huge uproar.
The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir is quoted as saying, “If India can’t be the guru of SAARC, then it can’t be the guru of the world,” on Thursday.
India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are the eight nations that makeup SAARC or the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Afghanistan joined the regional organisation in 2007, which was a late entry.
The two areas of J&K, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, should be designated as a global peace zone, according to Mufti. She also advocated for the designation of J&K and PoK as SAARC cooperation zones.
She complimented Pakistan and China over the CPEC project, which India has vehemently opposed, despite the fact that she is a lawmaker from India.
The Mufti urged the Indian government to link J&K to the rest of the world in a similar way to how Pakistan and China had linked the other side of Kashmir.
Days prior, India had criticised China and Pakistan for requesting other nations to participate in the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Project.
India has expressed opposition to the project due to the CPEC’s passage through the PoK, an area of India that Pakistan controls.
Arindam Bagchi, a spokeswoman for the External Affairs Ministry, recently said that India will treat any CPEC-related activities as “inherently illegal, illegitimate, and unacceptable” and will take appropriate legal action.
The BJP was criticised by Mehbooba for “politicising the national flag.” She claimed that forcing individuals to fly the tricolour over their homes wouldn’t promote nationalism, referring to the “Har Ghar Tiranga” campaign. “If you must hoist the Tiranga, raise it on the 1,000 square kilometres of our territory in Ladakh that China stole. However, you have also politicised this flag, the Mufti remarked.
She was grateful for the CPEC, which China had constructed in Pakistan and the People’s Republic of Kashmir. She urged the Indian government to link J&K with the rest of the world in a similar way to how Pakistan and China had linked the other side of Kashmir. She requested that J&K serve as a gateway to Central and South Asia from the Prime Minister.
“Pakistan and China have stated that other nations can join CPEC, a route that passes via PoK to reach Central Asia and South Asia.”
Mehbooba pleaded with Prime Minister Modi to offer blanket amnesty to all Kashmiri youths incarcerated in various prisons across the nation.
“We have seen reports on boosting possible third-country participation in so-called CPEC projects,” he had added. Any such activities by any entity directly violate India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Projects in the so-called CPEC that is on Indian soil that Pakistan has illegally occupied are opposed by India vehemently and constantly.
