Last Updated:
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. (Image: PTI)
The Congress and national conference are in an alliance in Jammu and Kashmir elections, the results for which will be out on October 8
Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif ignited a massive controversy after he said that the Shehbaz Sharif government and the Congress-National Conference alliance were on the same page on the issue of restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
The remarks of the Pakistani minister came in the midst of Assembly elections in J&K, the first since the erstwhile state’s special status was scrapped in 2019. Notably, Asif’s comments made in response to the Congress and National Conference alliance in the Jammu and Kashmir polls, the results for which will be out on October 8.
Khawaja Asif during an interview with Geo News said there was a “high chance” that the Congress-National Conference alliance would win the Assembly polls and come to power in the Union Territory.
“Pakistan and the National Conference-Congress alliance are on the same page in Jammu and Kashmir to restore Article 370,” Asif said during the interview.
Article 370 Revoked
On August 5, 2019, the government announced in Parliament the nullification of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir with an Assembly and Ladakh without one.
The government back then said that the statehood of J&K would be restored at the appropriate time, an assertion that has been reiterated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah time and again.
Recently, at a rally in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda ahead of the crucial J&K polls, Union Amit Shah again mentioned that the government is committed to restoring J&K statehood after the election.