Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprised him of the overall situation in the State, stressing on the need to end the cycle of violence by addressing alienation among the youth. Mehbooba’s meeting with the Prime Minister comes three days after she appealed to the country’s leadership to listen to the voices of pain from the State. Mehbooba later also met Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

“Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi today and apprised him about the overall situation in Jammu and Kashmir,” an official spokesman said. He said the Chief Minister stressed on “finding ways and means to end the cycle of violence in the State by addressing the element of alienation among the youth”.

She said the people of the state, having suffered immensely during the turmoil of the past three decades, were looking up to the country’s political leadership to support them in getting out of the cycle of uncertainty and deaths. Reiterating her demand for peaceful engagement with all stakeholders in this regard, Mehbooba sought more frequent meetings at the highest levels between India and Pakistan.

“She also favoured the idea that the two Army commands be in touch to minimise tensions across the borders in the state which has affected people living in these areas,” the spokesman said. Mehbooba also asked for taking the cross-Line of Control movement to the next level by working on opening more historic routes across the LoC and movement of more people to build public confidence in peaceful engagements.

She called for development of Sharda Peth, an ancient seat of learning across the LoC, like Nalanda and Takshila. “Implementation of the Agenda of Alliance (between the PDP and the BJP), execution of the Prime Minister’s Development Plan (PMDP) and other mega developmental projects in the state came up for discussion during the meeting,” he added.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Tuesday, 10 April 2018 | Pioneer News Service | New Delhi