Will quit if PDP can solve Kashmir issue in an year: Omar

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Saturday said he would step down and offer support of his 28 National Conference legislators to People's Democratic Party (PDP) if its patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed would solve the Kashmir problem in one year.

In a dig at Sayeed who said some time back if his party had 40 seats in the 87-member state legislative assembly, he would resolve the Kashmir problem in one year, Abdullah said: "You have 21 assembly members. I will provide you the support of my 28 assembly members."

"You will have 50 seats with you. You come forward with a certain and categorical solution to Kashmir issue," he dared the PDP while addressing a public meeting in north Kashmir's Pattan town.

Abdullah stressed he was ready to relinquish office for this purpose.

Referring to Sayeed's claim that Kashmir problem could be solved in one year, he said: "It could not be solved by the four wars fought by India and Pakistan. It could not be solved by 25 years of militancy and disturbance. It could not be solved through summits and dialogues."

He emphasized the need for sustained dialogue between India and Pakistan to address the Kashmir issue, and called on the leaders of the two countries to talk in right direction and perspective to resolve this issue once for all.

"We want to tell our children that Kashmir issue no longer exists and peace and development has taken the permanent place in the state," he said, stressing on the resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan.

He said the Kashmir issue wa born at the time of India's partition, with India considering its accession necessary for its secular characteristics of India while Pakistan wanted the area to be with it for having a Muslim majority.

"Both the two countries are nurturing their individual ideas in this regard and people of Jammu and Kashmir are suffering constantly," Abdullah lamented.