that was a hugely contentious decision in a territory long beset by violence and tension. government to find a pathway to peace and stability? chief minister omar abdullah, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you are back. you had ten years ago. you were in detention.

you were being held by the indian authorities. back as chief minister? a guest of the government. to jammu and kashmir, in terms of changing the constitutional relationship. i would be able to lead my party to a victory in the assembly elections and assume this office myself is, at times, surreal, but also very humbling, in electoral politics, nothing is static. well, no.

jammu and kashmir. and, of course, your party won, and now you're of jammu and kashmir." by the delhi government, a demotion of the status of your own territory. i will fight for statehood "to be restored. idid.

no. that wouldn't have... not to give delhi the sort of legitimation of fighting... that assembly election. insidejammu and kashmir who truly believe you are now no, absolutely not.

by the prime minister, by the home minister, but in your own party, the national conference, in essence, is a demotion of your territory's statehood. isaid... well, you said recently, "hoping for the restoration..." as it's known, article 370 —

that is the long—standing principle by which jammu and kashmir gets its special all we can do is keep "the issue alive." well, no, i didn't say hoping. so, you've given up? no, i haven't given up. no, absolutely not. in the assembly asking for special status of jammu in a recent event inside jammu and kashmir — i think it was the opening of a new tunnel — you stood beside prime minister narendra modi, photographic skills.

i think working in a congenial relationship... ..is not something that should be mistaken for the national conference is opposed to the bjp. we have been, we will remain. which deals with muslim religious properties — orfor that matter, one nation, one election, we have months of my government — i owe it to the people of india has made to us,

obviously we will relook at it. as long as mr modi is prime minister of india? no. simple as that? relationship with him? yes. confused about who actually

holds the reins of power. well, i wouldn't say much more power, but he has more power who controls the police? in a union territory, the lieutenant governor does. see, i think many of your own people believe that you really don't have the power to deliver change. and kashmir assembly election. yes, but we also... look, we were also very clear when we told the people of the things would be possible to deliver as a union territory, and some of them would have to wait no, absolutely not. restoration of statehood is also one of the promises

that we worked... yes, but on specific issues. this was going back to 2022, after you'd been and we will do it. so, you're not a state, then you can't do it. the rest of the country, or some internationally they know they know what the reality is. in the assembly elections. what we are doing.

grandfather — for generations, it was your party that passed that act. and under that act, which has been in place, i believe, since the 1970s, hundreds, thousands of people people without trial. well, actually, no. therefore, these... oh, isee. no, it's not... no. the fact is...

exactly. but you did in the past. why would people believe that? well, circumstances injammu and kashmir were slightly different. we never claimed that there was an end to street protests, as is being claimed now. different circumstances then. cos, i guess, what's notable is that since you came back of last year, there's been quite an alarming uptick alarming incidents.

as when the lieutenant governor "was in complete control." well, actually... actually, there hasn't been an alarming raise. yes, there have been one or two incidents, but... i think two soldiers were killed in one incident injammu and kashmir.

of government of india's concerns, so that we can establish a friendly working relationship, is something the national conference has always talked about. is it happening, in any way? unfortunately not. like to see isn't there.

injammu and kashmir over the last few years, the way that they have to talk. another element of the modi, bjp message aboutjammu and kashmir is that they believe, and they say that revoking your special autonomous status was a pathway to modernisation, as you look at your own territory today, and the government of india will have to agree to disagree. that we would like to see. and how are you going to deliver a new

economic position will be. you know, what many, particularly young and educated kashmiris say, in cities like srinagar, they say in your territory are reserved for disadvantaged peoples, reserved jobs, because they don't have the right label.

these young people want that situation to change, but you can't, can you? well, that is something that is being addressed on two parallel tracks. is looking at it. to see what options are available to us. the amount of room to play around with is limited... you said the reservation policy, as it's known... we will... but that was a promise you can't deliver. why not? the courts will accept them.

and why not? but this is one of your most seniorfigures. it doesn't matter. good. no problem. why is it a problem? because if the people of your territory begin so, then....

fine. the people then not put him where i'm sitting? i'm all for it. but i'm not given to giving up.

ofjammu and kashmir didn't elect me forfive they elected me for five years. i have five years to deliver on the promises that i've made. earlier in the interview — i want to talk to you a little one of the nation's, you know, most influential, you've had a long time now to assess the impact of bjp rule in india, they've been in power for more than a decade.

you see happening? it is. and i've always made this point, that... and, therefore, the bjp wants to show that they're not to prove that you don't appease is wrong. at the end of the day, india — at least for now — passion in your voice, because, again, some muslims in this country — notjust injammu and kashmir,

muslims. uniform civil code, which many muslims feel will be targeted they feel it could become anti—muslim. trust in democracy, trust in parliament. of the population? can somebody point another alternative to me? other than the bjp — other political parties that rely on muslim votes to get seats in parliament,

then what other option do 15% of the population have? because they certainly can't rise up in arms homes in their neighbourhood. in this country. it's not bleak. the courts to deliverjustice. a final thought. as we said at the very beginning, you've been through quite a lot in the last ten years.

and if you had asked me ten years ago that the next time have believed you. really is no point. surely, it's fair to say the trajectory is not in a great direction. well, i think the worst that they could have done to claw back some of it. omar abdullah, we have to end there, but i thank my pleasure. thanks, chief minister.

hello. skies there in scarborough, with the onshore winds pushing the waves onto the beaches. degrees liscombe in devon. the one bright spot, though, was shetland, still dominated by high pressure to our east, to push in from the west. now, at the moment we have extensive cloud across the uk. across england, wales, northern ireland. in scotland, well, there are signs that the skies

could be a touch of frost here, but otherwise it's largely frost free, with temperatures abouti to 3 degrees as we but otherwise expect the cloud to stay with us. temperatures like they have they have been for a few days now, 4 to 6 c at best, really. a little bit lighter. nevertheless, there will still be a lot of cloud being blown across the uk. push into northern ireland, wales and southwest england. areas, weakening and just dying in place.

completely fading away. further eastwards, you might see a few breaks in the cloud that is possible on friday. not really changing much again, 4 to 6 degrees for most western areas of the uk, bringing some rain at times.

this is bbc news. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says hostages by noon on saturday the king ofjordan visits washington, to discuss us president trump's plans for the future of gaza. from the russians.

to end unless all the remaining hostages are freed on saturday. here's prime minister netanyahu. translation: in - of the translation: in w decision to translation: in of the decision to not our i decision to not release our hostages. inside and around the gaza strip.

in the cabinet is this.