Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that his government was ready to address the “genuine grievances” of all categories of people within the ambit of the Constitution even as he hit out at Pakistan for fomenting terror in India.
In his concluding remarks at an all-party meeting on Kashmir, the Prime Minister applauded security personnel for showing restraint in dealing with the current situation in the Valley.
“Pakistan forgets that it uses fighter aircraft against its own people. The time has come for Pakistan to answer for its atrocities in Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” Mr. Modi said.
Listing PoK as one of the four parts of Jammu and Kashmir, he said Pakistan was at the root of the current unrest. Violence, terrorism and anti-Indian activity would be dealt with sternly, Mr. Modi warned.
The meeting was convened on a day when the Lok Sabha unanimously passed a resolution appealing for urgent steps to restore peace in the Valley.
The all-party meeting was convened on a day when the Lok Sabha unanimously passed a resolution appealing for urgent steps to restore peace in the Valley while asserting that there would be no compromise with the country’s integrity and security.
Briefing the media after the all-party meeting, the government attempted to link the Kashmir unrest with events happening in other parts of the world.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: “The change taking place in the world between 2010 and 16 ideologically has to play a role in the valley.”
As for holding talks with separatists, he said, the “government will decide according to the situation” while talks with mainstream political parties was always on and “there was no reason to restart the process.”
Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the proposal for an all-party delegation to Kashmir was not discussed. During a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, several parties had demanded such a visit.
Asked if any decision had been taken on curbing the use of pellet guns, which has triggered an outrage, both the ministers said an expert committee was examining the issue and a decision would be taken once the report is filed.
