Chidambaram favours sending all-party delegation to J&K

PM Modi had a 75-minute-long meeting with a joint opposition delegation led by former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the meeting between a delegation of Jammu and Kashmir opposition parties and the Prime Minister must be welcomed if it is the first sign of "fresh thinking" even as he pitched for sending an all-party delegation to the Valley.

"Yesterday's meeting between PM & J&K opposition parties: if it is the first sign of fresh thinking, we must welcome it.

"Next step should be sending All Parties Delegation to J&K", the senior Congress leader said in a tweet.

Only yesterday, Congress had dismissed as "shooting from the hip" the Prime Minister's call for a dialogue to find a lasting solution to the unrest in Kashmir Valley which is on the boil for last 45 days.

"It looks that the Prime Minister's words keep changing. What he said at the all-party meeting, his remarks in the Independence Day address and today he is talking of dialogue, but dialogue with whom? There is a suspicion that these are mere words, mere empty rhetoric for the Prime Minister. He is unfortunately shooting from his hip and merely shooting the breeze," party spokesman Manish Tewari had said.

Modi had a 75-minute-long meeting with a joint opposition delegation led by former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday.

The Prime Minister emphasised on the need for dialogue to find a "permanent and lasting solution" within the framework of the Constitution and also asked all political parties to work together to find a solution to the problems in Jammu and Kashmir.