Mehbooba Mufti calls for talks with Pakistan as gunbattle continues in Srinagar CRPF camp

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday called for talks with Pakistan amid the backdrop of two militant attacks in three days, media reports said. In a tweet, Mufti said that dialogue with Pakistan was necessary to end bloodshed and war was not an option. The statement came hours after former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah's comment on 'Pakistan living in fool’s paradise'.

Dialogue with Pakistan is necessary if we are to end bloodshed. I know I will be labelled anti-national by news anchors tonight but that doesn’t matter. The people of J&K are suffering. We have to talk because war is not an option.

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) February 12, 2018

Earlier on Monday, Abdullah had said, “Kashmir was, is, and will remain an integral part of India”.“Pakistan is living in a fool’s paradise in thinking that it could ever capture Kashmir. Pakistan should better think of itself and its future rather than keeping an eye on Kashmir,” Abdullah told reporters at Imperial Golf Club in Mullanpur, about 25 kilometres from Ludhiana. [caption id=“attachment_4347363” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. AFP[/caption] Meanwhile, a gunbattle between militants and the CRPF was reported from Srinagar’s Karan Nagar area, which has a forces’ camp. According to CNN-News18, the militants were cornered during a search operation by the CRPF, which began after the paramilitary force foiled an attack on its camp in Srinagar on Monday. A search operation was also underway on the third day in army's Sunjuwan camp , which was attacked by a group of suspected JeM terrorists, killing six persons, including five soldiers. On Sunday, Pakistan had rejected allegations that it was involved in the terror attack on Sunjuwan camp , saying Indian media and officials made “irresponsible” statements even before any investigation was initiated. The foreign office spokesperson also accused India of carrying out a “smear campaign against Pakistan and the deliberate creation of war hysteria.” With inputs from PTI