New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ruled out any talks with the Hurriyat Conference or other separatists despite the ever-increasing surge in the violent protests across the Kashmir valley.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was reportedly taken aback when the PM rejected her plea during a meeting on Monday to urgently hold dialogue with all groups, telling her the Centre cannot talk to the pro-Pakistani outfits and better use the state machinery to crush their anti-India activities.
She, however, tried to paint a picture after the meeting as if the PM is for the talks. She said when she told him that talks are the only option as the confrontation cannot go on forever, “the PM assured that he has all the intentions to hold talks after the situation becomes normal.”
The Prime Minister is declined to talk to the separatists as the groups like Hurriyat are pro-Pakistan and Islamabad has been using them to undermine the authority of the government of India and the state government in the matter of the Kashmir issue, sources in PMO said. Yes, he also wants peace in Kashmir but it should be a long-term peace and not a stopgap arrangement for a temporary peace through talks with the outfits, they said.
A top home ministry official said after the PM-Mehbooba meeting that “the government is taking steps to address the situation in Kashmir, but under no circumstances there would be any engagement with the separatists.”
