Rajnath winds up two-day tour to J-K, says delegation visit not 'failure'

Repelling the notion that the all-party delegation visit to Jammu and Kashmir was a "failure", Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said the delegation will now meet in Delhi to chalk out an action plan for the government on measures that it needed to take in future in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Now, this all-party delegation will meet in Delhi, where we will derive a result from the talks that we held with various stakeholders, and will chalk out an action plan for the government on measures that it should take in future in Jammu and Kashmir," said Singh, while addressing a press conference before their departure to Delhi.

Divulging detail of today's meeting in Jammu, the Home Minister said, "As many as 200 people comprising 18 delegations interacted with the all-party delegation. They expressed their concerns over the situation in Kashmir and were of the opinion that the problems in the Valley should be resolved at the earliest. Besides, they also merited the attention of the all-party delegation towards the problems of the Jammu region."

Asking the people of Ladakh that he will soon hold talks with them as well, Singh said, "I know when we talk about the state of Jammu and Kashmir, we talk about three regions -Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The delegation has already visited Kashmir; Jammu too has been covered; and soon, I will try to visit Ladakh to hold direct talks with people over there."

The Home minister further said they had very good interactions with people and many members in the delegation, who were not very familiar with the situation of Jammu and Kashmir, also got a chance to learn about it. "And, I understand whenever a question concerning Jammu and Kashmir comes to Parliament, we will have their support," he added.

The delegation was on a two-day visit of the state to deliberate over the prevailing restive situation in the Kashmir Valley and ways to bring normalcy there.