LONDON: If Jammu and Kashmir's most powerful female politician has her way, the violence-ridden state will not only have peace one day but will also - wait for its first McDonald's restaurant.
"Give us a McDonald's - I just love McDonald's," Mehbooba Mufti, a member of the Indian parliament and president of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) in her state, said longingly during an informal chat with reporters in London.
Perhaps by chance, she spoke minutes after her father, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, addressed a press conference on Wednesday where he made a strong plea for European and other foreign tourists to visit Jammu and Kashmir.
And, as is well known, Western tourists tend to follow McDonald's - its famous golden arches a sign of familiarity in foreign places.
Mehbooba Mufti, who is clearly passionate about her pizzas and burgers, was however quick to add that Jammu and Kashmir did have many of its own local fast-food restaurants.
Earlier, Chief Minister Sayeed said it's time Britain and other European countries ended their travel advisories against the Himalayan state.
"I have been lobbying for two years and have even spoken to several British MPs from all the political parties, but nothing seems to have come of it," a frustrated Sayeed said.
"Which place doesn't have problems? But after the train bombings in Madrid, did they ask their citizens to stop visiting Spain?"
http://www1.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1016841.cms
-- No two countries that both have McDonald's have ever fought a war against each other since they each got their McDonald's.
Thomas L. Friedman