Jammu & Kashmir never merged with India: Omar Abdullah

SRINAGAR: Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday reiterated his party's stand that the state's accession was not a merger with the Indian Union in 1947.


"While all the states acceded to the union of India and then merged with it, Jammu & Kashmir only acceded and not merged. That is why we have special status, our own constitution and the flag,'' he said while talking to a European Union Delegation.

He said the Kashmir issue was linked to the partition when future of all states except Jammu & Kashmir was decided and underlined the need for a sustained dialogue with Pakistan and separatists.

Omar said there were diverse views regarding the issue. "While one extremist view is for cession, the other is total merger of the state with the union of India,'' he said.

"Unless the process of dialogue is started with a view to find out flexibility in both of the views and carve out a roadmap of addressing the issues, the position will not change.''

He said the Constitution provides a framework for dialogue with separatists.