BJP Asks PM to Clarify Kashmir Policy

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visiting Kashmir Valley two days later, the BJP has asked him to make his policy on Kashmir clear as it is a ‘question of sovereignty’.

Arun Jaitley, BJP’s leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said that the prime minister appeared too vague about his Kashmir plans. “He should make it clear as it is a question of our sovereignty. There is a parliament resolution about Kashmir,” he added.

It may be mentioned that Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had said in last fortnight in Srinagar that the central government was working “on quiet diplomacy” in Kashmir.

This Sunday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that he was in favour of ‘practical, pragmatic solutions to the Kashmir problem and also a dialogue with the separatists Hurriyat Conference.

However, Singh, who is scheduled to visit Kashmir on Wednesday, said that he was not going there to “start negotiations or to engage in negotiations myself”.

“I have always maintained that it is our sincere desire to engage all sections of political opinion in Jammu and Kashmir to find practical, pragmatic solutions to the problems facing the state.”

The prime minister is due to open 12-km railway line connecting Anantnag and Qazigund in the valley Oct 18. The trip was postponed due to other preoccupations of railway minister Mamata Banerjee.