Srinagar, June 5 -- Srinagar- Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said Article 370 was never responsible for the lack of development in Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that decades of violence and instability, rather than the erstwhile state's special constitutional status, hampered economic growth and investment in the region.

Speaking at The Hindu Huddle 2026 in Bengaluru, Omar also reiterated that restoration of statehood remains the biggest political demand of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and stressed that the region had chosen to be part of India in 1947.

"Pakistan wants us. We are a part of India. We chose to be a part of India. That was something they couldn't accept and still are unable to accept," the Chief Minister said whi...