Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti today strongly pleaded for initiating dialogue in Jammu & Kashmir to get the State out of the clouds of uncertainty, violence and bloodshed. She also sought compensation to the State for the losses it is suffering due to the Indus Water Treaty.The Chief Minister said this during her meeting with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi here today.During the meeting, Mehbooba Mufti apprised the Prime Minister about the latest situation in Jammu & Kashmir.The Chief Minister said dialogue is the only way forward for unbundling the knots of mistrust and uncertainty in the State and herald it to a level of prosperity and welfare. She said it was the dialogue only due to which many path-breaking initiatives were taken in the State. She said peace and dialogue are interdependent on each other.The Prime Minister told the Chief Minister that in the twin pronged objective of dialogue and development lies the solution to all the problems of the State and all efforts would be made in this regard.
The Chief Minister also brought into the notice of the Prime Minister the colossal losses suffered by Jammu & Kashmir due to Indus Water Treaty and sought compensation for the same. She informed Mr Modi that the recurring losses to the State due to non usage of waters of its rivers for agriculture, power and irrigation have gone beyond Rs 30000 crore as the treaty does not allow storage of its river waters by the State.The Prime Minister assured the Chief Minister that the demand for compensation would be appropriately addressed and ways and means would be explored to see how the State is properly compensated.Many other issues like progress on ‘Agenda of Alliance’, obtaining situation in the State and other related matters also came up for discussion during the meeting.The Prime Minister assured Mehbooba Mufti of full support from the Centre in its approach on these issues.It may be recalled here that Chief Minister yesterday during the meeting of Niti Aayog had raised the issue of reports of alleged harassment of Kashmiri students studying in various parts of the country.
Responding to the concern raised by Mehbooba Mufti, the Prime Minister has directed all the States to ensure safety and security of Kashmiri students across the country.Interacting with the waiting media persons, the Chief Minister appealed all sections of society in the country to help in creating a conducive atmosphere for dialogue and reconciliation in the State. She specifically appealed media to play a positive and constructive role while reporting things about Kashmir.In a separate meeting with Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, Mehbooba Mufti also underlined the urgent need for initiating dialogue with all shades of opinion in the State.The union Home Minister told Mehbooba Mufti that already an advisory has been issued to all state Governments about protecting and safeguarding students from the State in their areas.Later in the day, the Chief Minister also met the union Law Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad and brought several issues concerning his Ministry into the notice of the union Minister and sought their redressal.