Road for India becoming 'Vishwaguru' is through SAARC, not G-20: Mehbooba Mufti
Srinagar, May 14: The forthcoming G-20 meeting may be a "good promotion exercise" for the BJP at the international level but holding the SAARC summit and discussing problems in the region would help India in becoming a 'Vishwaguru', says the last chief minister of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state Mehbooba Mufti.
Mehbooba was speaking to PTI-video on the preparations for the G-20 grouping meeting on tourism in Srinagar from May 22 to 24.
Amid strain in India-Pakistan ties, the biennial SAARC summits have not taken place since the 2014 meeting in Kathmandu.
"We don't live close to Australia, America or Japan which are members of G-20. We are living in this region and the SAARC caters to the problems of this region and if the government takes the initiative and has a summit of SAARC countries and addresses the problems that are being faced by this region including what is happening in Pakistan" that will help India to be the leader in the region and the world, she said.
But the government "has to understand that the road leads through SAARC and not through G-20", the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief said.
The G-20 event will be the first international meeting being held in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh -- in August 2019.
"As far as G-20 is concerned, it has been made into a BJP event because even the logo has been replaced by a lotus. It may be a kind of good promotion for the party itself and as far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, especially the Valley you have seen the way the crackdowns are going on...," she said.
However, the Jammu and Kashmir police denied any high-handedness saying that only those people against whom there is digital evidence of indulging in anti-national activities have been detained.
Mehbooba said that G-20 "may be a good PR exercise for BJP at international level but it is not going to make India the 'Vishwaguru' which they talk about".
It is the SAARC and if the leadership here takes an initiative to have a SAARC summit "that is something that can really establish the leadership of India in this region and ultimately it can establish its leadership in the world," she opined.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), set up in December 1985, is a grouping of eight countries -- India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
The last planned summit scheduled to be held in Islamabad on November 15-19 in 2016 was called off as India expressed its inability to participate due to "prevailing circumstances" following a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir. Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan had also declined to participate.
Kashmir will be hosting the third G-20 tourism working group meeting from May 22 and 24. The first working group meeting on tourism was held at Rann of Kutch in Gujarat in February and the second one at Siliguri in West Bengal in April.
Even as authorities have spruced up the city for the event, Mehbooba claimed that the roads of Srinagar have been "destroyed in a brutal way" and the "heritage stones have all been uprooted and replaced by some cheap kind of tiles, public toilet tiles."
While fiercely criticising the BJP, Mehbooba maintains that PDP allying with the saffron party in 2014 to form the government was not a mistake.
She stressed that her father and former Union home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed wanted to safeguard Article 370, land and employment rights for the people of Jammu and Kashmir" and that is why he took a "bold step" and put everything at risk "including his credibility, his party, and his politics for a larger cause at stake".
"And today when we see the way they have dismantled everything, they have scrapped Article 370 unconstitutionally, it proved that my father was right in reaching out, engaging the BJP for a larger cause," she said.
Today, however, she feels that the gulf between Srinagar and New Delhi has not only expanded but "it has gone beyond repair".
She also said the conditions in J-K were "a far cry" from being conducive for holding elections.
Asked about her views on the resumption of India-Pakistan dialogue and the situation in Pakistan, she said, "Why should they (India) decide to talk this time when they know Pakistan is in shambles. I mean, they know when to talk. They are much wiser than you and me."
She said that the judiciary and the media in Pakistan are "in a better form than in many other places in the world".
"I think Pakistan is in shambles and there are no two opinions about that, but there is a saving grace that is the judiciary and the media. They are holding the system accountable and that is something that may save the country ultimately," she said.
To a question about Pakistan pushing its agenda of terrorism in India, she said it is condemnable.
On the Karnataka poll results, she said the people have "rejected the divisive agenda of the ruling party who even brought deities like Lord Hanuman into the narrative and talked about not needing Muslim votes".
"I salute the people of Karnataka that they have shown wisdom and voted on issues that are unemployment, inflation, and other problems. That is a good sign and I hope this is something that is carried forward even during parliamentary elections next year," she` said.
Mehbooba again batted for Opposition unity.
"If we have to save the country, we have to save the democracy in the country, we have to save the Constitution of this country, and for that, all the parties have to forget their differences and come together that is the most important thing to do if we want the idea of India to survive," she said.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
