Omar Abdullah after India-Pakistan de-escalation: ‘Hope Haj flights can resume now…’

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah welcomed the India-Pakistan de-escalation after four days of heavy fighting and expressed hope that airports could now be reopened. He hoped that the Haj flights could also resume now, saying there's a backlog of it.

Taking to X post de-escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan, Omar Abdullah said, “Now that we have a ceasefire I hope the airports can be reopened quickly & civil flights can resume.”

“We have a backlog of hajis who should have been in Medina by now. I hope the Union government will move quickly to reopen airspace & enable us to resume Haj flights from Srinagar,” Omar Abdullah said.

Omar Abdullah had welcomed the ceasefire, saying “better late than never but had this ceasefire come two or three days earlier, perhaps the bloodshed we saw and the precious lives we lost, would have been safe.”

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Omar Abdullah said it was now the duty of the J&K government to provide relief and compensation to those who suffered during this period. “We have announced compensation for the loss of precious lives. Now we will have to compensate those who have been injured as well,” he said.

However, Omar Abdullah later confirmed that Pakistan violated the ceasefire and resorted to drone attacks hours after the ceasefire declaration. In a post on X, Omar Abdullah said, “What the hell just happened to the ceasefire? Explosions heard across Srinagar!!!”

PAKISTAN VIOLATES CEASSEFIRE

Hours after shaking hands with India on an “immediate ceasefire”, as it called the de-escalation, Pakistan has yet again violated the ceasefire, sending drones from across the border into the Indian territory.

According to the reports, blackouts have been imposed in Srinagar after huge explosions were reported in the capital city.

Shelling was also heard in Akhnoor and Udhampur cities of J&K. Air raid sirens have also been sounded in Rajasthan's Balmer.