Srinagar, Apr 09: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said India\u2019s close ties with Israel may have limited its ability to play a mediatory role in the ongoing West Asia crisis, remarking that New Delhi could have otherwise acted like Pakistan.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of distribution of appointment letters under Jammu and Kashmir Rehabilitation Assistance Scheme at SKICC Srinagar, CM Omar as per the news agency\u2014Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said only Israel needed this war. Perhaps India could have played a role like Pakistan if our relations with Israel were not so close, terming it his \u201cpersonal opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stressed that the United States must \u201crein in Israel\u201d to ensure the success of ongoing ceasefire efforts, asserting that the conflict was not initiated by Iran but \u201cimposed\u201d on it. \u201cIf the ceasefire fails, it will not be Iran\u2019s fault but it will only be Israel\u2019s responsibility. The US will have to control Israel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Referring to remarks by US President Donald Trump, the Chief Minister said the statements coming from Washington lack consistency. \u201cHe says one thing in the morning, another in the afternoon and something else in the evening. The kind of language he uses does not suit anyone, let alone a President,\u201d Omar said, adding that such conduct would get ordinary users blocked on social media platforms.<\/p>\n
He further said that \u201cpeople are afraid\u201d of the US President, which is why no action is taken despite repeated threats, and questioned the larger objective of the conflict. \u201cBefore anything else, the purpose of this war should have been made clear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister distributed appointment letters to 90 beneficiaries under the Rehabilitation Assistance Scheme (RAS), replacing the older SRO-43 scheme, across 10 districts of Kashmir.<\/p>\n
Calling it a duty of the government, Omar said, \u201cThese appointments are not a favour. This is our responsibility to support families of those who died in service so their households don\u2019t suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commenting on reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) regarding shrinking water bodies, he said the situation is visible on the ground. \u201cWe don\u2019t need CAG to tell us this\u2014we are living it. Water bodies have either disappeared or shrunk due to urbanisation, land pressure and climate change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He stressed that environmental protection requires collective responsibility. \u201cThis is not just the government\u2019s job. All of us must act if we want to leave behind a better Jammu and Kashmir for future generations,\u201d he added, urging reduced use of plastic.<\/p>\n
On urban local body elections, Omar said they will be held \u201cat the appropriate time,\u201d without specifying any timeline.<\/p>\n
Reacting to the proposed Women\u2019s Reservation Bill, the Chief Minister questioned the need for fresh legislation when one had already been passed. \u201cWe were told it would be implemented after census and delimitation. What has changed now? The government must clarify,\u201d he said, reiterating support for women\u2019s reservation in principle.<\/p>\n
On reported losses in the horticulture sector, Omar said the government is working to roll out a crop insurance scheme announced in the Budget. \u201cEarlier interventions were largely cosmetic. This time, we want real benefit for the common grower,\u201d he said, adding that the scheme will be implemented soon to provide relief against weather-related losses. (KNO)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Srinagar, Apr 09: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said India\u2019s close ties with Israel may have limited its ability to play a mediatory role in the ongoing West Asia crisis, remarking that New Delhi could have otherwise acted like Pakistan. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of distribution of appointment letters under Jammu and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news","category-kt-front"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16735,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16733\/revisions\/16735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}