Centre starts dialogue, but says Hurriyat not welcome

NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi expressed his "deep pain" over the Jammu & Kashmir situation and emphasised the need to pursue development and dialogue for a lasting solution to the state's problems at a meeting with opposition leaders from J&K on Monday.

In an interaction that lasted 75 minutes, he expressed his commitment to the development of the state and its people and appealed for restoration of normalcy. "We need to find a permanent and lasting solution within the framework of the Constitution," a PMO release quoted Modi as saying.

The opposition delegation spoke of the need for a political solution and while government is ready for dialogue, a senior government functionary said any engagement with the Hurriyat alliance is unlikely. The current engagement with elected representatives and political parties, including those of the opposition, is seen as part of a dialogue.

According to junior minister for PMO Jitendra Singh, the PM told the delegation comprising National Conference chief Omar Abdullah, Congress's Ghulam Ahmed Mir and CPM's MY Tarigami, among others, that "those who lost their lives during recent disturbances were part of us, our nation... whether the lives lost are of our youth, security personnel or police, it distresses us".

After the meeting Abdullah was quoted by news agencies as saying that Modi agreed that development alone was not the answer. The opposition leaders appealed to the PM to adopt a political approach to resolve the crisis and ensure that the "mistakes" of the past were not repeated.

Asked to comment on finance minister Arun Jaitley's statement that stonepelters were no "satyagrahis but aggressors", Abdullah said "I do not wish to say anything on this as the PM told us nothing like this.