Days after the Centre announced a Special Representative to initiate and “carry forward a dialogue” with elected representatives, various organisations and concerned individuals of Jammu and Kashmir, a senior government official said they would not be confining its scope by issuing “terms of reference.”
The official said the government had deliberately decided to use the term “Special Representative” and not “interlocutor” as had been the trend in the past.
“We have reiterated the order issued in 2003 when the current Governor of J&K N.N. Vohra was appointed to hold dialogue in the State. The terms of reference will not define the scope of work of the Special Representative,” the official said.
The Centre appointed former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief Dineshwar Sharma as a Special Representative for Jammu and Kashmir talks earlier this week.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti held discussions with Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Thursday.
Ms. Mufti said a detailed discussion was also held on the ₹80,000-crore package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015. “Funds are getting released and development works are going on. Work on AIIMS is also going on,” she said.
An official said the Special Representative was open to talks with the separatists. “While insinuations have been made to the effect that the Central government was not willing to engage with so-called real stakeholders (read separatists), it is factually incorrect,” the official said on the condition of anonymity.