New Delhi: Citing improvement in the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that assembly elections will be held there soon, but did not give a timeline.
“The way the situation is improving in Jammu and Kashmir, I think a time will come when AFSPA will no longer be required there. It is my view and it is for the Home Ministry to decide on it,” he said in an interview.
The AFSPA empowers security forces to conduct operations and arrest anyone without any prior warrant. It also gives immunity to the forces if they shoot someone dead.
The defence minister, referring to Pakistan’s proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir, said Islamabad must stop cross border terrorism. “They are trying to destabilise India and we will not allow it to happen,” he said.
The ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after India’s warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot in Pakistan in February 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack.
The relations further deteriorated after India on August 5, 2019 announced the withdrawal of special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the state into two union territories.
India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment free of terror and hostility for such an engagement.

Agencies