J-K Cong advocates dialogue between India, Pak to resolve issues

The Jammu and Kashmir unit president of the Congress, G A Mir, Sunday advocated dialogue between India and Pakistan for resolution of political issues through peaceful means.

He also asked Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to convert his words into action and ensure an end to terrorism in the region.

"Both the countries (India and Pakistan) need to sit on the table and work out a solution to the political issues politically," Mir told reporters during his visit to forward villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district.

Mir led a party delegation to areas hit by shelling by Pakistani forces to take stock of the situation. The delegation met the border villagers and expressed their solidarity with them.

Mir said the tension along the borders are resulting in avoidable fatalities.

"Innocent civilians on this side and the other side of the border are getting killed, injured and dislocated and their properties are being damaged. What is their fault? The people on the other side are part of the state and are our own people," Mir said.

Referring to the recent statements by Imran Khan that his country does not support terrorism, he said the ground realities are different.

"If he is sincere in his words, he should act and work with India to end terrorism in the region. Otherwise, his good words will be considered as just a public relations exercise," he said.

Last week, there has been 51 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) by Pakistani forces in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch, which left four civilians dead and 14 others, including eight security personnel, injured.