PM chairs high-level meeting on Kashmir

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is chairing a high-level meeting on the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir in which a decision on extending the ceasefire could be taken, officials said.

The meeting is being attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and senior officials of intelligence and security agencies, they said.

The meeting is crucial as a call on extending the unilateral ceasefire post Ramzan, which ends today, can be taken during it, they said.

It is expected that the issue of security for Amarnath Yatra, starting June 28, and killings of Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari and Army jawan Aurangzeb is also on the agenda, they said.

The fate of the Centre's one-month-old policy of suspension of operations against militants in Jammu and Kashmir hangs in the balance, with a few security agencies flagging its disadvantages, including regrouping of militants, and some in the Home Ministry being in favour of extending it with a rider that intelligence-based operations should be increased, officials had said.

The valley has witnessed the killings of over 55 militants and the deaths of 27 locals this year.

The situation in Kashmir is considered to be turbulent as nearly 80 incidents of violence occurred there in the last four months. Civilians were often seen thronging to encounter sites to stage protests with the intention of giving the militants an opportunity to escape.