Ready for talks with all on K-issue: Rajnath

Lucknow, September 24

The government is ready for dialogue with “everyone” on the Kashmir issue, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday, days after India cancelled a foreign minister-level talks with Pakistan.

He, however, asserted that terrorism in the Kashmir valley was “Pakistan-sponsored”.

“I think the (Kashmir) matter will be resolved. We are ready to talk to everyone,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the Central Zonal Council here.

Rajnath said as far as terrorism in J&K was concerned, all security agencies were working in coordination. “Terrorism in Kashmir is Pakistan-sponsored,” he said.

India on Friday had called off a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries in New York, barely 24 hours after agreeing to the engagement, citing the brutal killings of three policemen in J&K and Islamabad releasing postage stamps “glorifying” Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani.

The Centre, last year, had appointed former director of the Intelligence Bureau Dineshwar Sharma as its representative to hold talks with all stakeholders in J&K.

Sharma has already held several rounds of dialogue with representatives of different groups, civil society members and individuals.

About the issues raised in the zonal council meeting, the Home Minister said out of 22 points, 20 had been resolved. In the last four years, in 12 meetings, 680 issues had been discussed and of them, 428 resolved, he added.

The Central Zonal Council comprises Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand. The council’s meeting aims at addressing common concerns of the participating states and settling cross-border concerns, if any.

Five Zonal Councils — central, western, northern, southern and eastern — were established under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. — PTI