Chidambaram to India Today: Modi didn't read my remarks on Kashmir in full, is attacking a 'ghost'

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said Prime Minister Narendra Modi hadn't read his remarks on Kashmir in full, and said he was attacking a "ghost" he had imagined.

"It is obvious the PM has not read the whole answer to the question put to me on J&K," Chidambaram told India Today on Sunday. He said the answer had been published "verbatim" in a leading newspaper.

"Those who criticise must read the whole answer and tell me which word in the answer was wrong. The PM is imagining a ghost and attacking it," Chidambaram said.

The former Union Minister said yesterday that he believes the government must consider areas in which to give the state of Jammu and Kashmir autonomy.

"The demand in Kashmir Valley is to respect in letter and spirit Article 370. And that means that they want greater autonomy. My interactions in Jammu and Kashmir led me to the conclusion that when they ask for azaadi (independence), most people -- I am not saying all -- (an) overwhelming majority want autonomy. Therefore, I think we should seriously examine that question and consider on what areas we can give autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir," he was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.

This autonomy will be "perfectly within the Constitution of India" and "Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India but it will have larger powers as promised under Article 370," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

At an event in Bengaluru, PM Modi said the Congress was "shamelessly using the language that is used by separatists in Kashmir and which is spoken in Pakistan."

Chidambaram also told India Today that neither he nor the Congress had criticised last year's surgical strikes.

"We pointed out that these were cross-border actions and such actions had been done in the past too, as admitted by the Army Chief" he said.