Separation of J-K from India part of Pakistan's agenda, says Jaitley

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said that Pakistan is a country which runs on a negative agenda, adding that the Islamic Republic still regards the separation of Jammu and Kashmir from India as part of its agenda.

"The unfinished agenda that Pakistan had of separating Kashmir from India is still there. The country runs on a negative agenda and tries to generate an anti-India feeling here," Jaitley said at an interactive session here.

"Some people are separatists, some talk of autonomy. All questions raised by local parties depend on distribution of power between Centre and state," he added.

Jaitley further said that the Bharatiya Janata Party's political ambitions in the state were not limited to a few parliamentary seats.

"The Congress ended up with a limited agenda in Jammu and Kashmir: to be with whatever regional party wins here. [However,] the BJP in the valley will be anti-separatists and pro-people. We are diametrically opposite to both the regional parties here," he said.

"We will try our best to form a government here, also because for us Jammu and Kashmir is not like any other state. This time we will prove that our ambition is not limited to three or four parliamentary seats. Kashmir is a part of BJP's history," he added.

With the region experiencing chilly weather conditions and fog, the fourth phase of the legislative assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir saw only 37.46 percent of voters exercise their democratic right as of 2 pm.

Sixteen constituencies spread over the three districts of Srinagar, Anantnag and Shopian in Kashmir, as well as two seats in the Samba district of Jammu went to polls in this phase.

The final phase of the election will take place on December 20, with the counting of votes scheduled to take place on December 23.