‘Pakistan not wearing bangles, it has atom bombs’, says Farooq Abdullah in response to Rajnath Singh’s PoK remark

National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Monday warned about Pakistan being a nuclear power in response to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s comment on people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir wanting to merge with India.

“If the defence minister is saying it then go ahead. Who are we to stop? But remember, they (Pakistan) are also not wearing bangles. It has atom bombs, and unfortunately, that atom bomb will fall on us”, said Abdullah

#WATCH | Srinagar, J&K: On Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement that ‘PoK will be merged with India’, JKNC Chief Farooq Abdullah says, “If the defence minister is saying it then go ahead. Who are we to stop. But remember, they (Pakistan) are also not wearing bangles. It has… pic.twitter.com/hYcGnwVxP2 — ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2024

In an interview with PTI, Rajnath on Sunday stated that India won’t have to capture PoK with force because “its people, on their own, would want to be part of the country after seeing the development in Kashmir”.

“I think India will not have to do anything. The way the ground situation has changed in Jammu and Kashmir, the way the region is witnessing economic progress and the way peace has returned there, I think demands will emerge from people of PoK that they should merge with India,” he said.

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The defence minister asserted that “PoK was, is, and will remain ours”.

Singh also said that the ground situation in J&K had improved significantly and that a time will come when AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) will no longer be required in the Union Territory.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Sunday, too, maintained that PoK was a part of India. “PoK has never been out of this country. It is part of this country. There is a resolution of the Indian Parliament that PoK is very much a part of India,” Jaishankar said.