JK CM Mehbooba Mufti invites separatist leaders for talks with all party team

Reaching out to separatists, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday invited their top leaders for talks with the All Party Delegation that is due to arrive here on Sunday to help seek a peaceful resolution of the problems facing the state.

Mehbooba wrote letters to the leaders in her capacity as PDP chief, seeking their cooperation by engaging with the delegation to be led by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

"I write to you in my capacity as the President of the J&K Peoples Democratic Party and request you to take the lead and engage with the All Party Delegation of Parliamentarians visiting the state on Sunday.

"This will be the start of a credible and meaningful political dialogue and resolution process to end the stalemate," Mehbooba wrote in the letter addressed to the separatists' leaders. She said cutting across party lines and political positions, the country's political leadership has reached out and "it is for us to collectively lend it credence and credibility."

"All of us, be it the mainstream political parties or political groups with a separatist agenda, voice the urges and aspirations of our people, as we understand those, and seek a resolution of the problems as we see them from our own perspectives.

"I do hope that you will give this suggestion of mine a thought and indicate a time and place of your convenience for an exchange of ideas with the delegation."