PDP leader and former CM Mehbooba Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir. File | Photo credit: PTI
Former J&K Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti said on Wednesday (May 13, 2026) that her party welcomed RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale’s remarks suggesting that the “window of dialogue should remain open with Pakistan”. Ms Mufti said “talks are the only progress” to resolve issues between the two countries.
“We welcome the RSS General Secretary’s statement advocating keeping the window of dialogue open with Pakistan. This confirms the position of the PDP and that of its founder Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, who has always advocated dialogue with Pakistan and believed that the situation in Kashmir could improve and a return to lasting peace would be possible if both countries were committed,” Mufti said.
She was responding to Mr. Hosabale’s television interview, where he recalled former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s approach to Pakistan and stressed that “we should not close the door and should always be ready to open a dialogue” with Pakistan. He also mentioned diplomatic relations, trade and commerce as examples of how the window for dialogue remains open between the two countries.
She was referring to Mr Vajpayee’s statement that “we can change our friends but not our neighbours”. Ms Mufti said her party supported the current position of the RSS and advocated “negotiations between the two countries to make the region prosperous”.
She said lessons should be learned from the ongoing war between the US and Iran, where “in the end even the US, the superpower, had to deal with Iran”.
Parallel dialogue
Ms Mufti also welcomed recent reports that retired Indian and Pakistani diplomats and military officers have participated in the dialogue. “If this is formalised, we will see a positive impact in Kashmir as well. We saw that when former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh started a dialogue with Pakistan, militancy went down and people felt relaxed. Unfortunately, there is a suffocating feeling in Kashmir at present,” Ms Mufti said.
She said there are signs that a year after Operation Sindoor, both sides are realizing — especially the RSS — that dialogue is the way forward.
The former J&K chief expressed concern over the continued “crackdown on local people” in Kashmir. “Local Muslim employees are fired on allegations of anti-national behavior and houses are bulldozed. Anyone who posts on social media is summoned to the police station. Schools labeled as anti-national have been demolished,” Ms Mufti said.
She said the UAPA and public safety law cannot be used so widely. “There are reports that jails in Kashmir are full due to the anti-drug campaign and youth are being moved out. We support action against drug dealers but we ask that the houses be spared,” she added.
Published – 13 May 2026 23:24 IST
