New Delhi/Srinagar, Oct 24: Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday slammed Dileep Padgaonkar, head of the interlocutors’ panel for Jammu and Kashmir, for his comment that Pakistan has to be involved for a permanent solution of the Kashmir issue and demanded that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) must explain if this was part of the brief of the team.
 The BJP said the comments sounded as if the panel was rationalising Pakistan’s stand on its “unfinished agenda” on Kashmir and that it was “arguing” from the Hurriyat angle in this matter.
 “The BJP demands that the PMO should immediately clarify if this was part of the brief given to the  interlocutors,” party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said in New Delhi.
 She expressed the fear that the comments by Padgaonkar even before it could start its assignment “is unnecessarily internationalising the process.”
 “What was the Pakistan dimension that the interlocutor was referring to? Is this part of the brief given or has he stepped beyond its (the panel’s) brief?” she questioned.
 Padgaonkar had said yesterday that the panel is in J and K to look for a permanent solution to the Kashmir dispute but a permanent solution is not possible without the involvement of Pakistan.
 Sitharaman said: “The comments sound as if they are rationalising Pakistan’s stand on its unfinished agenda on Kashmir. Furthermore, it seems as  if the panel is arguing from the Hurriyat angle in this matter.”
 Asked whether the party would seek recall of the panel, she said, “At this stage we want the Prime Minister to say whether this was (the statements) part of their brief”.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 24 Oct 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 25 Oct 2010 00:00:00 IST