Ram Madhav appreciates appointment of new Kashmir interlocutor

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ram Madhav on Thursday hailed the Centre's decision to appoint Dineshwar Sharma as an interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir, saying it depicts government's sincerity towards the state-related matters.

Madhav said, "The government has taken an initiative to talk to all the stakeholders in Kashmir and it portrays its sincerity towards the state."

He further averred that the Valley has also welcomed the decision and that the move would help to restore peace there.

Commenting over the opposition's remarks about the BJP taking a U-turn over its Hurriyat policy as the party has not been in talks with the Hurriyat over last three years, Madhav said, "We were approached by various stakeholders for talks over the Kashmir issue. So now an interlocutor has been made available. There is no U-turn in our policy."

Dineshwar Sharma, the former director of the Intelligence Bureau, was appointed the Centre's representative in Kashmir on Monday.

Sharma called his appointment a homecoming and said his priority would be to restore peace in Jammu and Kashmir and find a permanent solution to the problems.