Srinagar

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said no one should object to dialogue between India and Pakistan aimed at improving bilateral relations.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function here, Abdullah said the conflict between the two countries was not new and has persisted for the last three to four decades.

"This conflict is 30 to 40 years old, and last year, it intensified after the Pahalgam attack. Now, the PM is being requested, through a letter, that the relations between the two countries should be improved. No one should have any objection to that," Abdullah said.

A letter coordinated by OP Shah, chairman of the Centre for Peace and Progress, and signed by 61 Indians and 55 Pakistanis, has urged the two countries to engage in bilateral talks.

Questioning those criticising the initiative, Abdullah said senior leaders of the RSS had also advocated improving ties between India and Pakistan.

"Recently, a senior RSS leader said that India and Pakistan should talk to each other and become friends. When the RSS says this, no one objects, but when the leaders in J-K say the same thing, it becomes an issue.

"We are only saying what (former prime minister Atal Bihari) Vajpayee used to say that friends can be changed, but we cannot change neighbours. We want relations between neighbours to improve," Abdullah said.

More than 100 prominent citizens, including former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, from India and Pakistan, have urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif to revive bilateral dialogue and restore normal ties.

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Among the signatories are former RAW chief A S Dulat, Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha, former diplomat Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, besides several retired diplomats and civil society members.

The letter urged both governments to take "meaningful and sustained steps towards restoring peace, normalcy, dialogue and cooperation in South Asia".