Daily Times

NEW DELHI: Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar on Wednesday asked the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to initiate talks with Pakistan on the situation in India-held Kashmir, The Indian Express reported.

The Congress leader also took a shot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking the BJP leader to stop blaming Islamabad for Kashmir unrest. He also asked Modi to start a dialogue process with the leaders in the violence-hit Kashmir valley.

“Kashmir is our problem. We cannot keep saying Pakistan is causing it. They will keep doing what they are doing with regard to Kashmir. The talks should continue between both the countries. And also with all leaders be it Hurriyat or Mufti ji or separatist leadership,” Aiyar told ANI.

The Congress veteran also criticised Prime Minister Modi over his assertion that his government would take Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s path on Kashmir.

“But I believe that he should not completely follow Vajpayee ji’s path. What Narasimha Rao has said in 1995 that as far as autonomy is concerned sky is the limit. Modi ji should think about that also,” Mani said.

“The composite dialogue which Inder Kumar Gujral had started 1997; Modi ji should take that also into consideration. What Dr Manmohan Singh has done in his tenure, even that Modi ji should keep in mind.”