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| Troops withdrawal: PM speaks to Mufti | | Mufti gives March 31 deadline | | NEW DELHI, MAR 28
Seeking a consensus on the contentious issue of troops reduction in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tonight spoke to PDP patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and sought more time for consultations on the issue.
Following the brief telephonic conversation, the PDP decided to postpone tomorrow's crucial political affairs committee meeting in Srinagar.
Meanwhile, Mufti, according to the sources has given deadline till March 31 to the centre threatning to withdraw its support from the coalition.
The high-level core group, which met at the Prime Minister's residence, discussed the issue of troops reduction from civilian areas in the state as demanded by the PDP.
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi was also present.
The two-and-half hour meeting was attended by Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, A K Antony and Shivraj Patil besides Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel.
After the meeting, the Prime Minister called up Sayeed and told him that he had some prelimnary discussions with his colleagues and that some more meetings were to take place in the next couple of days, a senior PDP leader said.
On the request of the Prime Minister, the PDP has decided to postpone the meeting to allow the Centre to arrive at a consensus, the PDP leader said.
This would also give ample time to the Centre for taking state Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on board before reaching any decision, the leader said.
Sources in the Congress party said Kashmir was among the host of issues discussed at the UPA meeting. The concerns raised by the alliance partner, PDP, were discussed in detail and views of various leaders were elicited on the issue.
However, there were differences on accepting demands of the PDP for troops reduction from civilian areas as some Union Ministers feared escalation in the violence levels, they said.
It was then decided that discussions should continue on this issue.
As part of efforts to iron out differences within the coalition government in the state, the Prime Minister last week held talks with Sayeed on the troops reduction issue.
The two leaders had discussed establishment of a committee to examine the issue of troops cut in civilian areas, vacation of civilian properties occupied by security forces and the repeal of anti-terror laws.
The PDP sought a political face for the committee, but the Centre had politely turned down this demand, saying the panel, if formed, would be headed by a security expert.
In his parleys, the Prime Minister had highlighted the importance of the coalition government in the state and the "vital need" to implement the shared vision on peace and tranquility in the state as enshrined in the National Common Minimum Programme.
Meanwhile indications are there that the Indian Army has begun withdrawing its troops of the 27th division from Jammu and Kashmir. It’s the first withdrawal after the PDP made it a political issue.
However, the Army has called this a routine redeployment. 15,000 troops are being pulled out from the Rajouri, Hill kaka and Surankote areas.
Alleging that a troop withdrawal was being effected in Jammu and Kashmir since the past three months, BJP President Rajnath Singh slammed the UPA government on Tuesday for “compromising national security to hang on to power in the state”.
‘’Troops were gradually withdrawn from Doda, Poonch and Rajouri sectors in the past three months. Now, even the Army has admitted it,’’ he had said at a news conference.
“Such a decision should have been taken in consultation with all political parties, including the opposition,” Singh said, adding neither the political parties, nor the Army or Intelligence agencies were in favour of troops withdrawal from the restive state.
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