Congress questions PM's 'silence' on 'dangerous' Kashmir situation

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday questioned the "silence" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the "dangerous" situation in Jammu and Kashmir, while asking the government whether it is in favour of a military solution or dialogue to resolve the issue.

AICC spokesperson Kapil Sibal mocked the BJP-led NDA government, remarking that "Terror and dialogue cannot go together, but terror and birthday cake can go together", referring to Modi's impromptu visit to Pakistan to attend his counterpart Nawaz Sharif's birthday in 2015.

He accused the Modi government of not having a policy on Kashmir or on Pakistan which was responsible for the rising number of terror incidents in the valley and ceasefire violations along the Line of Control.

"Somewhere the policy of the government is not clear. They don't have any clarity in their policy... They have no policy on Kashmir, they have no policy on Pakistan," he said.

"Do they want a military solution or do they want a dialogue?" he asked.

Sibal said the situation in the state was "disturbing" as for the first time youth in the valley were coming out on the streets with no one leading them.

"This is a dangerous situation," he said, noting that it was a leaderless movement and wondered how the situation came to such a pass.

He also expressed serious concern over rise in bank robberies in the valley, while noting that there have been 13 such robberies.

Questioning the prime minister's silence on Kashmir, he said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks on several issues. We want to hear him speak on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. He has, however, maintained a surprising silence on the issue".

Sibal drew a comparison to the situation in Kashmir during the Congress-led UPA regime and claimed it was "far better" than now.

Referring to the combing operation underway in Shopian in south Kashmir, the Congress leader said the last time it was done was in 1990.

He claimed former prime minister Manmohan Singh never went to Pakistan during his 10-year term, still the situation was not as bad as it is now.

The Congress leader also expressed concern over ties with China and said it had pulled out of trilateral talks with India and Russia.

"There is a big mismatch between the thought and what was happening on the ground," he said, alleging that the government prefers not to seek views from the opposition nor take it into confidence on such matters.