NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Saturday visited Pahalgam and interacted with tourists days after a deadly terror attack, asserting that Kashmir “was and will always be a part of India.”
Speaking to reporters, Abdullah said the biggest message after the incident is that the tourists are “not scared.”
“The people who wanted to spread fear have lost. They (terrorists) have lost. It has been proven today that we are not going to get scared. Kashmir was and will always be a part of India. People want terrorism to finish. It has been 35 years since we have seen terrorism; we want progress. We want to move forward. We will become a superpower one day,” former J&K CM said.
Abdullah declined to comment on remarks made by former Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto, stating that paying attention to such statements would be counterproductive.
“If we go by Bilawal Bhutto’s statements, we cannot move forward. I have been saying for a long time that the Indus Water Treaty should be reviewed again. Our rivers and we are the ones who are deprived,” he said.
His comments came after Bhutto acknowledged Pakistan’s past involvement with terror operatives.
During the visit, Abdullah, along with NC MLA Altaf Kaloo, met Hyder Shah, the father of Syed Adil Hussain Shah — a local resident who lost his life in the Pahalgam terror attack while attempting to rescue tourists.
“Farooq Abdullah shared our grief and gave us courage in our sorrow, which is helping us move forward,” Hyder Shah said.
Earlier in the day, India formally imposed an immediate ban on the import and transit of all goods originating from or exported via Pakistan, according to a notification by the ministry of commerce and industry.
The notification, issued under the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992, and the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, halts all bilateral trade with immediate effect.
The Centre has also suspended all in bound mail and parcels from Pakistan.
This step follows a series of measures taken by the Centre in response to the Pahalgam attack that claimed 26 lives. These include shutting down the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari, suspending the Saarc Visa Exemption Scheme for Pakistani nationals, instructing them to leave India within 40 hours, and reducing diplomatic staff in both countries’ high commissions.
India has also suspended the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 as part of its broader response to the ugly attack.