'Article 370 is a national issue for us and need for extensive debate over its utility'

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that Ladakh is an important and integral part of our country. It has a unique historical, cultural, spiritual and strategic significance for us. He alleged that National Conference, Congress and PDP ignored Ladakh region for long.

Singh further added that if the voters of Jammu and Kashmir give us the opportunity to form the government in the state the process of development and good governance will gain momentum. There are many schemes and projects which could be implemented in Jammu and Kashmir but Article 370 works as an obstacle.

Criticizing the state government, Singh said that the state government did not implement the 73rd Constitutional Amendment despite being in power for six years. The Centre cannot implement it directly in the state due to Article 370. Therefore vote for the party like BJP which is willing to implement the 73rd Amendment in J&K.

Article 370 is a national issue for us and there should be an extensive debate over its utility. There are certain parties which raise the issue of Article 370 during elections as they want to create a sense of fear among certain voters. Those parties should discuss the issues of governance and development in the state.

He said that we in the BJP consider Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh as extremely close to our hearts. On the other hand parties like the Congress believed that Ladakh was nothing more than a ‘cold desert’. India lost precious territory to China and Pakistan due to wrong policies of the Congress. China did not share its boundary with Jammu and Kashmir at the time of our independence. The Congress lost Tibet to China which acted as the ‘Buffer State’ between both the countries and Pakistan handed over the Aksai Chin area to China.

India wants to maintain good relations with its neighbours but its gesture should be reciprocated by its neighbours. China has illegally occupied Aksai Chin and incursions by Chinese troops does not augur well in maintaining cordial relations with our neighbour.

India and China share good trade relations with total trade crossing 65 billion USD. It can be further strengthened to 100 billion USD if both the countries strengthen its ties through mutual trust and respect for each other.