The Union government hopes to evolve a consensus at Wednesday's all-party meeting on restarting dialogue with different sections of the State people.
On Monday, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) decided to convene the all-party meeting.
Sources in the government said that diluting the provisions of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was certainly not the single-point agenda of the meeting, but hoped that if it could prove a trigger to restart the dialogue, so be it.
The thrust, the sources said, was in keeping with the CCS observation that the Union government always believed that dialogue and discussions were the only way forward to find an honourable and lasting solution to the Kashmir issue.
A statement, issued after the meeting, admitted that “dialogue can address issues such as trust deficit and the governance deficit.”
At the all-party meeting, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to make an opening statement. It will be followed by political leaders coming out with their views on a range of issues, including the thorny AFSPA.
The meeting is likely to be followed by another meeting of the CCS, the sources indicated. It would discuss confidence-building measures that could be taken in Jammu and Kashmir.
In this connection, the sources pointed to the appointment of Justice Nisar Ahmed Kakru as Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, with the Supreme Court collegium reversing the nearly two decades-old transfer policy.
