New Delhi, Sept 6: The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet here later this week for a “threadbare” discussion on the situation in Kashmir amidst indications that the Centre may initiate new steps to break the impasse.
Even as he disclosed the decision to convene the CCS meeting, Dr Singh told a group of editors, “I cannot promise you that I will produce a rabbit out of my hat. The country must learn to be patient.”
Pointing out that the Kashmir problem has existed for 63 years and Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had all attempted to tackle it, Dr. Singh said, “We are still groping for a solution.”
The internal dimension of the militancy has gone down but other issues remained, he said. In a reference to the current unrest in the valley, the Prime Minister said that there had to be a different attitude to riot control. No lethal weapons but more humane methods should be used to deal with crowds, he said.
Dr. Singh also favoured more and more powers to be shifted to Jammu and Kashmir police. “Sometime it will work, sometimes it will not work,” he said.
Asked for his comments on the state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s statement that the status quo was not an option, the Prime Minister said that they were in touch with and he would not like to engage in a public discussion on this.
Dr Singh’s remarks came amidst reports that the Centre may launch a fresh initiative to break the deadlock in Kashmir by making concessions on the issue of Armed Forces Special Powers Act. It may also appoint an interlocutor to talk to various shades of opinion in the state.
Prime Minister has already chaired at least three meetings of the cabinet committee on security to discuss the way out of the 87 day long unrest in the Kashmir valley that has already consumed 67 lives. He also made a televised address to the nation on Kashmir the sidelines of an all party meeting last month. But the efforts are yet to have any impact on the ground with no end in sight to the protests-killings-protests in the Valley.

ON PAKISTAN
On Pakistan, the Prime Minister maintained that it was his sincere belief that India had to engage it regardless of the complexity of the set up in that country but he was also sensitive to the Indian public opinion after the Mumbai terror attack.
Asked about the failure of the talks between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi in July, Singh said that “there are always mishaps” in Indo-Pak ties.
Engagement and dialogue were the only way forward in Indo-Pak ties, he said, adding that he hoped that Qureshi would accept Krishna’s invitation to visit India.

ON CHINA
Dr Sing said India has to take adequate precautions but not give up hope of peaceful resolution of issues with China.
Responding to a question on “pinpricks” by Beijing on Jammu and Kashmir, he said the relations between the two countries continued to be a mix of competition and cooperation and the effort should be to create a milieu in which there can be peaceful competition.
He pointed out that he had worked with the Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, whom he had been meeting almost every year.

ON PC
Dr Singh said complimented Home Minister P Chidambaram for doing an “exceedingly good job”.
Singh was asked about Chidambaram’s complaint that he had a limited mandate in dealing with the Naxal menace.
“All of us have a limited mandate,” the Prime Minister responded, adding that once a policy is laid down it has to be implemented.
Chidambaram, he said, was doing an exceedingly good job and “he has my full confidence and support”.

CABINET RESHUFFLE
Prime Minister indicated that he would consider a cabinet reshuffle before the next session of Parliament due to commence on 7 November. ‘I will like to reduce the average age of my cabinet,’ Singh said, adding that he was not planning to retire.
The Prime Minister said that his Cabinet was functioning with much greater degree of cohesion than even the first Cabinet headed by Jawaharlal Nehru.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 6 Sep 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 6 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 7 Sep 2010 00:00:00 IST