New Delhi: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said during a live conversation on a Pakistani news channel on Sunday that unless India repeals ‘Section 370’ in Kashmir, relations between the two neighboring countries cannot be normal.
On August 5, 2019, the Government of India repealed Section 370, which gave special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Article 370 allowed the constituent assembly of the state to form its own constitution and therefore gave it an autonomous state power.
Additionally, the state was divided into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Political leaders such as Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah were put under house arrest in the strife-torn region in the state.
In March this year, Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that it is time for both countries to “bury the past and move forward.”
Bajwa had said, “But our neighboring India will have to create a favorable environment, especially in Kashmir.”
On the other hand, India had made it clear that while it desires normal relations with its neighbor, it also expects to create an environment devoid of hostility and terrorism with Pakistan.
(With agency inputs)