PM Modi must be firm with Pakistan on indiscreet acts: Congress

The Congress Party on Monday said there was a need for the NDA Government to avoid a soft stance towards Pakistan and take the issue of ceasefire violations along the Line of Actual Control up firmly with Islamabad.

"Separatists have been released. Violations across the International Border on the Line of Actual Control is the reality. The Prime

Minister had earlier said that he would look into the eyes and not bend while talking. We want him to take some firm action.... Why Lakhvi, the mastermind of 9/11, is out?" AICC Communications Department in-charge Anand Sharma asked media here.

"Are we going to see the repeats now of what happened earlier, that one of the most dreaded terrorist, Moulana Azhar Mehmood, was handed over in Kandahar along with the money," he added.

Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani had earlier in March held a 45-minute dialogue with Pakistan's High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, where they discussed issues pertaining to Kashmir.

The meeting took place just two days after separatist leader Masarat Alam was released by the Jammu and Kashmir Government.

Basit also appraised Geelani of Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar's visit to Pakistan.

Earlier, separatist leader Masarat Alam was released from Baramulla prison following the new Jammu and Kashmir government's policy to free political prisoners who do not face criminal charges.

Alam is the chairman of Muslim League, a constituent of hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and is widely seen as the latter's successor.

He had been convicted for organizing anti-India protests resulting in the death of 112 people in stone pelting across the Valley in 2010.

In August 2014, a meeting between Basit and Geelani on the eve of talks between the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan had enraged the government, leading to the cancellation of Foreign Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan.