Home India News Ready to talk to anyone in Kashmir, reiterates PM

Ready to talk to anyone in Kashmir, reiterates PM

By IANS,

Srinagar : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday said his government was ready to “carry forward” the dialogue process in Jammu and Kashmir and talk to anyone who abhorred violence and terrorism.

“We want the talks process to move forward. We are ready to talk to representatives of every section who are opposed to terrorism and violence,” Manmohan Singh said while addressing a convocation of an agricultural university here.

Speaking in chaste Urdu, the prime minister said though the central government had announced a slew of measures for economic development of the terror-riven state, “a lot still needs to be done”.

He said the government was committed to implementing the recommendations of the five working groups he had formed after three round table conferences held in 2006 and 2007.

“We got many view points (from these round table conferences) and we will act on the recommendations of the working groups step by step,” he said, amid loud applause from students at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.

Manmohan Singh arrived in Srinagar on a two-day trip to the Kashmir Valley amid a shutdown call by separatists.