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Onkar Singh in New Delhi
A Congress delegation comprising Pranab Mukherjee and Ghulam Nabi Azad called on Planning Commission Deputy Chairman K C Pant, the government's chief negotiator in Jammu & Kashmir, on Saturday morning and discussed the state's problems for over an hour.
Briefing reporters later, Pant said the meeting was cordial. "I told the Congress delegation what progress I had made during my visit to Kashmir and also about the viewpoints expressed by other political leaders who called on me in the last few weeks," he said.
He ruled out another visit to the valley in the near future. "I do plan to go to the valley, but not in the immediate future. I have invited leaders of various political parties in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to share their views with me. Likewise I will be telling them the progress that I have made."
Pant said former Union defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav was among those he had invited. "We have not set up a date. This will be decided according to his convenience," he explained.
Mukherjee refused to spell out details of his and Azad's talks with Pant or the strategy of the Congress. "Our view is well known, that we want peace in Jammu and Kashmir," said the veteran Congress politician, without elaborating.
"I am keeping a watch on the developments in Kashmir," Pant said when asked if he expect a rise in the level of violence before General Pervez Musharraf's visit.
Pant said he was satisfied with the progress made by him in the last few weeks. "The whole purpose of my meeting with the people, politicians and others is to get their perspective. The time has not yet come to hold an all-party meeting on Kashmir because I am meeting the leaders of the political parties individually," he explained.
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