Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday hit out at National Conference president Farooq Abdullah for seeking talks with Pakistan, saying the government would rather talk to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir for making it the most developed in the country.
The home minister, who is on a visit to Jammu and Kashmir—his first since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019—remotely inaugurated several development projects and laid the foundation stone of some.

“I read in newspapers that Farooq Abdullah has suggested that the government should talk to Pakistan. He has a right to his opinion but we would rather talk to the Kashmiri youth,” Shah said while addressing a function at the SKICC here.
“The repealing of Article 370 had only one intention—to put Kashmir, Jammu, and newly created Ladakh (Union Territory) on the path of development. You will see the fruits of our efforts by 2024,” he said.
The article, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated in August 2019 and the state was bifurcated into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Shah inaugurated a 500-bed hospital at Bemina, completed at a cost of Rs 115 crore, laid the foundation stone for the Handwara Medical College, a Rs 46-crore steel girder bridge over the Ferozepur Nallah in Baramulla district and road projects worth Rs 4,000 crore, among others.

The home minister, who is on his Jammu and Kashmir visit’s third day, said that those who advocate talks with Islamabad and separatists should be asked what has Pakistan done in Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK).

“Compare the development between this side and PoJK. Do they have electricity, roads, healthcare, and toilets. There is nothing (on the other side). You (Kashmiris) have the same rights as any other Indian,” he said.