Congress core group meets on Kashmir

Amid continued unrest in Kashmir, top leadership of the Congress, including party chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, met here today to discuss ways to deal with the situation.

The Congress core group meeting at the prime minister's residence is understood to have explored ways and options to
restore peace in the valley which has been witnessing violence
for nearly three months now.

The meeting assumes significance as it comes against the backdrop of Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah's
insistence on amendments to the controversial Armed Forces
Special Powers Act (AFSPA) or its partial withdrawal from the
state.

Abdullah made the demand to the prime minister during his
meeting here two days back.

The core group meeting was attended by its members finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, home minister P Chidambaram
and Congress president's political secretary Ahmed Patel.

Prithviraj Chavan, AICC in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir, and senior party leaders from the state Ghulam Nabi Azad and  Saifuddin Soz also attended the meeting.