Congress, Pakistan have same intentions on J&K: HM Shah

New Delhi, Sep 19 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that Pakistan and the Congress have the same intention and agenda with regard to Jammu and Kashmir.

The recent remarks by Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif extending support to the Congress and National Conference’s call for abrogation of Article 370 have once again exposed this, he said.

He said, “Pakistan's Defence Minister's statement about Congress and JKNC's support on Article 370 and 35A has once again exposed the Congress party. This statement has made it clear that Congress and Pakistan have the same intentions and agenda. For the last few years, Rahul Gandhi has been standing with every anti-India force that hurts the sentiments of the countrymen.”

HM Shah further said, “Be it asking for proof of air strikes and surgical strikes or saying objectionable things about the Indian Army, the tone and tenor of Rahul Gandhi's Congress Party and Pakistan has always been the same and Congress has always been hand in glove with the anti-national forces.”

He added, “However, both Congress and Pakistan must remember that the Modi Government is in power at the Centre. Neither Article 370 nor terrorism is going to return to Kashmir.”

Earlier, Khawaja Asif had stated that Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif government and the Congress- National Conference alliance in India were on the same page on the issue of restoring Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir.

Asif suggested that there is a "high chance" of the Congress-National Conference alliance winning the ongoing Assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir, potentially allowing them to come to power in the Union Territory.

His remarks were made during an interview with Geo News amid the Assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir, the first to be held since the revocation of Article 370 in 2019 and after a decade.

Asif's comments were directed at the alliance's stance on Article 370, which they have made a central issue in these elections.

He stated that both Pakistan and the alliance were in favour of restoring the special status of Jammu & Kashmir.