Mehbooba Mufti meets PM Narendra Modi, says no talks until stone-pelting, retaliation by security forces ends in J&K

CM Mehbooba Mufti said on Monday that a conducive atmosphere was needed for restoring order in violence-hit Jammu and Kashmir, soon after she met PM Narendra Modi over the worsening security situation in the state.

New Delhi: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Monday that a conducive atmosphere was needed for restoring order in violence-hit Jammu and Kashmir, soon after she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the worsening security situation in the state.

The meeting was held at PM Modi's 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence.

"We held discussions on various issues including the agenda of alliance between the PDP-BJP, the recent violence during elections and the volatile security situation in J&K,'' Mehbooba Mufti told mediapersons.

During the meeting, both I and the PM agreed that talks can't be held until incidents of stone-pelting and retaliation by security forces stops, Mufti said.

The PM assured me to find a peaceful solution to the Kashmir problem while also insisting to follow former PM AB Vajpayee's policy of reconciliation and not confrontation, the J&K CM said.   

Modi ji has repeatedly said that he would follow Vajpayee ji's footsteps, whose policy is of reconciliation and not confrontation, Mufti said.

She said her father, late Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed "had given a road map" for lasting peace in the state.

"We need a dialogue. We can't be confronting our own people for too long," she said.

She said she also stressed on the Prime Minister to compensate people of the state for the losses they have suffered due to the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan. 

Mehbooba , however, said that she was confident of finding a solution to the festering trouble in the Kashmir Valley.

"I have (called) a Unified Command meeting," she said of the security grid she heads in the state.

"We will find a line of action. There are people who are disillusioned and there are others who are being provoked."

Ahead of her meeting with the Prime Minister, the J&K Chief Minister also met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other top officials including NSA Ajit Doval and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) director.

Upon Mufti's invitation, Prime Minister Modi had on Sunday suggested that other states should organise events in Jammu and Kashmir and urged them to reach out to the students from the Valley studying in other states.

According to a statement issued by Niti Aayog, Prime Minister Narendra Modi "seconded the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister's suggestion that states should take interest in the students from her state who are studying in other states".

"He urged states to reach out to these students from time to time," the statement said.

Today's meeting also comes in the backdrop of recent bypoll to Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency which witnessed massive violence and the lowest turnout ever.

In the bypoll, the PDP also lost the seat to National Conference, just in nearly three years after the 2014 general elections.

With the Jammu and Kashmir Government led by Mufti drawing sharp criticism in wake of the recent unrest in the Valley, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ram Madhav earlier on Friday held a meeting with Finance Minister and People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Haseeb Drabu to discuss the future strategy.

The meeting assumed significance as the BJP is a coalition partner of the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir.

BJP leaders Avinash Rai Khanna and Satpal Sharma were also among those who attended the meeting held at the BJP office here.

Stone pelting incidents have increased manifold in the region since the BJP-PDP Government came to power in 2015.

The issue of Kashmir unrest also featured in the BJP's core group meeting headed by Prime Minister Modi a couple of days ago.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, who won the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency bypoll on has demanded that Governor's rule be imposed in Jammu and Kashmir as the state government had failed to ensure a peaceful election.

Slamming the BJP-PDP Government in the Valley, National Conference's working president Omar Abdullah has questioned the handling of students' protests.

Eight people were killed in clashes during the by-election in Anantnag last week.

The violence prompted the Election Commission to postpone voting.

Last week, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat apprised National Security Advisor Ajit Doval of the security situation in Kashmir.

Rawat's meeting with Doval on April 16 came a day after he had separate deliberations with Chief Minister Mufti and Governor N.N. Vohra over the law and order situation in Kashmir during his visit to the state.

As many as 411 stone-pelting incidents have been reported in the Kashmir Valley from October 2016 to March 2017.