Shinde favours talks with Kashmir separatists

Senior Congress leader and former Union Home Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, today called for resumption of talks with Kashmiri leaders and also favoured dialogue with separatists for restoration of peace and normalcy in the Valley.
Talking to mediapersons, he recalled that during his tenure as home minister, the situation had improved in the Kashmir Valley and he could go to the Lal Chowk in Srinagar with the then chief minister of the state.
Accusing the NDA government of deviating from the dialogue process started by the previous governments for restoration of peace, he said since the BJP and PDP have formed a coalition government, they should work for improving the situation rather than openly criticising each other.

Stressing on his point for a need to start the dialogue process, Shinde recalled how former prime minister late Indira Gandhi held talks with the then Pakistani prime minister Z A Bhutto after creation of Bangladesh.
Dubbing the foreign policy of the NDA government a failure, Shinde said China has "turned against" India, Nepal, a friendly nation, too was also "not totally with India" and attacks on Indian soldiers had "increased substantially".
Militant attacks on army establishments have gone up in the past three years and Maoists violence has also taken heavy toll, he said.
He criticised the government for the farmer unrest in states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and also for the use of "repressive means" on agitating farmers.

"When the government can waive loans worth thousands of crores of rupees of corporate sector defaulters why the farmers cannot be extended the same benefit," he said.