NC welcomes Sushma's 'Pak visit', hopeful of future dialogues

The National Conference (NC) on Friday welcomed the proposed visit of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Pakistan, anticipating it would lead to positive results in the future.

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"I would like to say that we all, including the people of the Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh are happy that Sushma Swaraj is going to Pakistan. We hope that she would improve our relations with Pakistan which would lead to further dialogues," NC President Farooq Abdullah told reporters here.

"I am very happy about the visit, and I welcome this move on behalf of the National Conference party and would wish that this brings out some positive result for the nation," he added.

When asked to comment on the rise in the militancy and the alleged role of the ISI in it, the NC president said that "If both the nation wants to get rid of the ISI, then they should be friends with each other and should decide the course of the nation".

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has also expressed hope that External Affairs Minister Swaraj's visit to Pakistan would revive the stalled dialogue process between the two neighbouring nations and improve the present situation in the valley.

"We would expect that the bilateral dialogue process gets revived after this visit of the Foreign Minister and we expect that her visit improves the situation in valley," Omar told reporters here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier met his Pakistani counterpart briefly in Paris on November 30.

Both leaders warmly held hands before sitting down for a chat amidst frosty ties between the two neighbouring nations.The duo had earlier met in Russian city of Ufa and agreed that their National Security Advisors would meet.

Pakistan has formally invited External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to attend the 'Heart of Asia' Conference to be held in Islamabad on December 8. However, there is no official confirmation from the Indian side in this regard.