Mehbooba Mufti meets Rajnath

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for the first time after taking over the reins of the state, and described the meeting as a "courtesy call".

She is understood to have discussed the controversy over the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar, which has been in the news over the stand-off between Kashmiri students and non-locals. The trouble at the institute had erupted after India lost a cricket match against West Indies and some Kashmiri students allegedly started cheering for the West Indies players.

After meeting the union home minister, Mufti dismissed the possibility of shifting the NIT out of the Valley as was being demanded by some students.

"Let me make it clear that it is an issue within the institute, and please do not give it a colour of local versus outsiders. The Human Resources Development Ministry is looking into the grievances of the outstation students and I am hopeful that it will be resolved soon," the chief minister told reporters as she came out of the North Block office.