SRINAGAR: National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah Tuesday welcomed the Congress party's promise to amend the Armed Forces Special Powers Act if voted to power in the general elections. "If the Congress has mentioned this in their manifesto, I welcome it. It is better late than never. If they had done this before 2014 (polls), we would have worked to lift ASFPA from certain parts of the state," said Omar Abdullah.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said some "friends from the Congress" conspired against him when he wanted to lift the AFSPA from some parts of the state.

"It is a very good thing. I wish they had done this when I was the chief minister of the state," he said.

"That time when I demanded the removal of AFSPA, some Congress friends had conspired against it. I do not want to name them because it won't look good. There were some senior leaders from Kashmir who conspired against my efforts. I got support only from (former Union Minister P) Chidambaram," Omar said.