AJK President says disastrous war cannot be ruled out after Indian action

MIRPUR: Azad Jammu Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan said Wednesday a disastrous war could not be ruled out after India's move to abrogate Article 370 in occupied Kashmir.

He said New Delhi's action was a defeat for the Sheikh Abdullah and Mufti Saeed families because they had been protecting India’s interest in the held territory for the last 70 years under the umbrella of this article.

Speaking to media at the Jammu & Kashmir House in the federal capital, he said: “After the repeal of Article 370, the pro-India Kashmiri parties — National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party — have no option but to join the liberation movement against India."

On Monday, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government revoked Article 370 in the disputed Muslim-majority Himalayan region, the AJK president had said India's frequent aggression at the Line of Control (LoC) was designed to bring Pakistan under pressure.

Such moves by India were aimed to deter Pakistan from extending moral and political support to the Kashmiri people, Khan had said while addressing the students and teachers of Karakoram International University Gilgit-Baltistan.

According to the AJK Presidential secretariat, he, however, had maintained that Pakistan was a nuclear power and its defence rested in strong hands.