Ravi Shankar Prasad terms Abdullah's advice unsolicited

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Union Minister of Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday said that Jammu and Kashmir's former chief minister Farooq Abdullah's advice of a third-party intervention to resolve the Kashmir issue was unsolicited and has no meaning.

"Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Any third party mediation is absolutely not required. India is sufficient and Mr. Farooq Abdullah's unsolicited advice has no meaning," he told ANI.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, and the National Panthers Party (NPP) have out rightly refuted the idea of a third-party intervention, the only party that seemed to support Abdullah was his own - National Conference (NC).

The BJP, which is in alliance with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir government, maintained that the government does not need Abdullah's advice on how to function.

"The entire nation knows how Farooq Abdullah is. So, the Government does not need his advice," BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya told ANI on Friday.

The Congress also held the same opinion in this regard, stating that it is a bilateral issue, and that no third party is needed to meddle in it.

"I don't agree. A third party is not needed. It is a bilateral issue and should be solved by the two nations involved," Congress leader Rajeev Shukla told ANI.

NPP leader Bhim Singh condemned Abdullah in harsh words and said neither the United States nor China can use India like "a rotten egg."

"India cannot be used as a rotten egg, neither by the U.S. nor by China. The frustrated politicians, when lose power, talk differently. I, as an Indian and as a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, do not agree with what Farooq Abdullah has said. India should talk to Pakistan," Singh said.

National Conference leader Devendra Rana, while supporting Abdullah, said their party has never been for mediation, but have always welcomed facilitation.

Abdullah's son and NC leader Omar Abdullah also came in defence of his father, saying that the people were "spinning his statement."

Earlier in the day, Farooq Abdullah said that India should approach third parties, such as the United States and China, to mediate in the Kashmir issue.