PM committed to equitable development of J&K: Jitendra

Srinagar: Union minister Jitendra Singh on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "committed" to equitable development of all regions of J&K and gives "high" priority to the expectation of the people of Kashmir.

"It will be out of turn for me to speak or to spell out the details of what the Prime Minister is to say tomorrow, but certainly all the expectations of the people of the Valley are very high on the considerations of the Prime Minister as well as the present government," Singh told reporters here, flanked by BJP spokesman Khalid Jehangir.

"The present government is very sincere, very honest and anything that comes forward will come with an earnest desire to deliver to the people of the Valley," he said.

Modi will visit the state tomorrow where he will be holding a public rally in the Valley and inaugurating the second phase of Baghlihar power project in Jammu.

The Prime Minister is committed to the equitable development of all regions of the state, Singh said.

"I wish to appeal the people of the state to come forward, listen to the Prime Minister, who is committed to the equitable development of all regions of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh and to make Jammu and Kashmir a part of the holistic development plan that the present government envisages for the state.

"And we hope that the holistic process of peace and development, which was initiated during the earlier NDA regime under (former) Prime Minister (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee and which possibly did not get the kind of attention that it deserved during the intervening ten years of UPA rule, will be carried forward earnestly by the present government," he said.

The Union minister said the present government at the Centre was only carrying forward the work initiated by Vajpayee when it comes to Kashmir.

Asked whether there was any possibility of a breakthrough with reference to talks with separatists, Singh said, "I think the day the people of the Valley started chanting 'Modi, Modi', it was a breakthrough".

"I would not like to speak on what the Prime Minister should speak or not speak. I think Modi is wiser, much wiser than all of us to write his own script. So, we should wait and listen to him," he said when asked whether there would be any announcement of talks with separatists or Pakistan like Vajpayee did in 2003.