Pak has to stop terror, will progress if it lives in atmosphere of friendship with India: Farooq Abd
Srinagar (PTI) National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Friday said Pakistan has to put a stop to terror activities and understand that it can progress only when it lives in an atmosphere of friendship and love with India.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister also said Kashmiri Pandits will not return to the valley until remnants of terror remain here.
"The government cannot bring anything. Until they (Pandits) feel in their hearts that they are safe here and can roam around freely, they will not come back," Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.
The NC president said the government as well as the people here will have to create a conducive atmosphere in Jammu and Kashmir for Pandits to return.
"We have to create those conditions and that cannot happen through speeches, but by action. If we really want to bring them back, we have to start acting in that way. We also need to tell our neighbour (Pakistan) to stop terror now. Enough is enough.
"We cannot become theirs (Pakistan), but we can live as friends. Till there are remnants of terror, there will be fear and this (the return of Pandits) will not happen," he said.
Replying to a question that whether targeted killings of Hindus in the recent past were a hurdle for Pandits to return to Kashmir, Abdullah said such killings will take place till Pakistan realises that it has to live as friends with India.
"When we live as friends and with love, both countries will progress and if we live in hatred, the pace of progress will be slow, which we are seeing today," he asserted.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
