NEW DELHI : The Central Government has no plans “as of now” to hold talks with separatist groups of Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today.
“There is no proposal to hold talks as of now,” was a blunt reply from Singh at a press conference here in response to a question whether the Centre would be holding talks with Kashmiri separatist groups as was done during the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The NDA-I had engaged with Hurriyat leaders led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq as well as with Yaseen Malik and Shabir Shah.
The process was carried forward in UPA-I by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but it got scuttled after the Centre had asked Hurriyat Conference to bring a road-map on paper for finding a solution to Kashmir issue.
The ‘Agenda for Alliance’, which guides the PDP-BJP Government of J&K, had said that following the principle of earlier NDA Government, the coalition Government will facilitate and help initiate a sustained and meaningful dialogue with all internal stakeholders, which will include all political groups irrespective of their ideological views and predilections.
To another question, the Home Minister today asked people of the state not to fall prey to hollow slogans as the fate is with India only. (AGENCIES)
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