KASHMIR NOT AN INTERNAL ISSUE: G A MIR

‘India, Pakistan bitterness directly hits JK’

Kochi, Sep 10: Stating that Kashmir issue is not an internal problem, senior Congress leader and Minister for Tourism Ghulam Ahmad Mir Tuesday said “the dispute between the neighboring countries directly affects the people of the State.”  “Kashmir issue is not related to J&K State only but we suffer as our State is landlocked and shares borders with neighboring countries. And any bitterness in the relationship with them takes toll on us,” Mir said while interacting with media at Kochi.  “It is not our internal dispute but an issue between the two countries. Any adverse relation with the neighboring countries can have adverse impact on our economy. Tourism gets affects whenever there are skirmishes between the two,” he said.  “We are the worst suffers. Our 80 percent borders are shared with different countries. That makes our place more vulnerable,” Mir added.

 He said J&K is the “crown of India” and maintained that “people of India should support the State wholeheartedly.”  “Kashmir is called crown of the country and if there is a pain in the head, the entire body remains restless. Similarly, our pain should be felt by all states in India,” he said.

 Terming Zubin Mehta concert in Srinagar as a ‘grand success’, Mir said the state government was successful in organizing the mega event.  He said there are voices of dissent in Kashmir which the state government is “tackling democratically”.  Mir also announced that after organizing Zubin’s concert successfully, the Italian Embassy has expressed their desire to organize such events in Kashmir. He said Italian Embassy would invite golfers from Italy for a mega golfing event in Kashmir. “The Italian Ambassador during his recent visit to Kashmir assured us that they would organize events in Kashmir to attract foreign tourists to the Valley,” he said. Mir on the occasion criticized national media for associating even border skirmishes with Kashmir.

Source: http://www.greaterkashmir.com/