Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Mirwaiz Kashmir Molvi Muhammad Umar Farooq on Tuesday said dialogue remains the only viable means of resolving outstanding issues between India and Pakistan, asserting that any genuine effort aimed at de-escalation and peace deserves support rather than scepticism.
Speaking to reporters in Srinagar, the Mirwaiz pointed to the recent decision of the United States and Iran to return to the negotiating table despite sharply heightened tensions, framing it as proof that even the most adversarial relationships can find their way back to talks. He posed the comparison directly, asking why India and Pakistan could not draw on that example given their own long history of confrontation interspersed with periods of engagement.
The Mirwaiz maintained that durable peace and friendship between the two neighbouring countries would serve the interests of people across the region, particularly those in Jammu and Kashmir who have borne the human cost of decades of hostility. He reiterated that the Kashmiri leadership would continue to welcome any initiative aimed at improving relations between New Delhi and Islamabad, framing such efforts as essential rather than optional for long-term stability.
As chief cleric and a prominent religious-political voice in the Valley, the Mirwaiz has consistently positioned dialogue as the preferred route over confrontation, a stance he has reiterated through multiple phases of tension between India and Pakistan over the years. His latest remarks come at a time when global attention has shifted toward renewed diplomatic engagement in other conflict zones, lending fresh context to his appeal for South Asia to follow a similar path.
He argued that dialogue, rather than military posturing or prolonged estrangement, offers the only realistic opportunity to address the issues that have kept the region on edge, while also creating the conditions necessary for sustained peace. The Mirwaiz’s comments add to a broader chorus within Kashmir’s political and religious leadership that has periodically called for renewed India-Pakistan engagement as a precondition for normalcy in the Valley.
While no immediate response has come from official quarters in New Delhi or Islamabad, the remarks are likely to resonate among sections of Kashmiri society that continue to view bilateral dialogue as central to any lasting resolution of regional tensions.
