‘Modi can’t grab AJK from Pakistan’

ISLAMABAD: Indian strategic affairs expert Maroof Raza on Sunday said that India could not grab Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) from Pakistan.

Maroof Raza during a session organised on the second day of the Military Literature Festival in Chandigarh said, “If we claim that we can get the Pakistan AJK back, it is a false claim” reported by Kashmir Media Service.

Raza, was discussing his and TV producer Iqbal Chand Malhotra’s book, ‘Kashmir’s Untold Story: Declassified’, with Major General Jagatbir Singh (R), Hindustan Times executive editor Ramesh Vinayak and Brigadier Pradeep Sharma (R) during the session.

The discussion was structured around the future of Jammu and Kashmir in relation with external factors like Pakistan and China and internal factors like uprising in Kashmir.

Listing public discontent, funding, weaponry and rough terrains as factors responsible for the insurgency in the Valley, Raza said, “Since 1990, there have been three instances where the military had control over the insurgency, however, bureaucrats had no plans, and so precious time was lost.

If the government solves the problem in Kashmir, there will be no problem of Kashmir. “Ramesh Vinayak added that there was a need for opening up the political space in Kashmir.

While Maj Gen Singh also shared his insights over Kashmir regarding its strategic location and its relationship with China, Afghanistan and Pakistan.