‘Kashmir issue can be resolved by talks, not violence’ Sinha & Team, Visits Shopian, Anantnag

He said they wanted to take forward the agenda of Atal Bihari Vajpayee (former prime minister of India) to take the Kashmir issue to “some resolution”.

The track-II delegation, led by BJP stalwart Yashwant Sinha, today toured the south Kashmir districts, the epicentre of the long unrest, and met members of civil societies there.
The delegation met the local civil societies in Shopian and Anantnag, two of the four districts that form the south Kashmir region.
Former Air Vice-Marshal Kapil Kak, one of the five members of the delegation, said the meetings took place in a “frank cordial and open atmosphere”. “We have come to hear to the people and listen to their pain and suffering so that we can convey it in a honest and transparent manner,” Kak said.
Sinha described the delegation as a “group of concerned citizens” and said talks were the only way forward. “We had come in individual capacity last time and we have in our individual capacity this time also. Last time we had stayed in Srinagar and talked to a lot of people. This time we thought of going to other districts and meet civil societies and other people,” Sinha told reporters in Shopian.
The delegation, which included Sinha and several other high profile individuals, such as Kak and former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, had arrived in the region yesterday for the second time in recent months.
In its previous visit in October, the delegation had succeeded in breaking the ice with separatists, who had earlier shut their doors on a high-level delegation of parliamentarians. The Kashmir valley is slowly moving away from months of unrest that had paralysed the region in the aftermath of killing of militant commander Burhan Wani on July 8.
Sinha said the delegation would prepare another report based on the deliberations with the people. “We represent a group of concerned citizens. We are concerned that is why we are here,” he said.
The BJP leader and the former Foreign Minister said the delegation believed in “Vajpayee’s way”, referring to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had initiated a series of confidence-building measures. “I think the way out can be found through talks, not through violence,” he said.
The delegation is planned to meet the members of civil society tomorrow and head to north Kashmir on Tuesday.