Mehbooba Mufti meets PM Modi; discusses security, development

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Prime Minister Narendra Modi today and discussed the prevailing situation in the state and various development issues with him, an official said.

During the hour-long meeting, Mehbooba briefed Modi on the security situation in the Valley as well as along the border with Pakistan, which has been witnessing heavy cross-border firing and continuous attempts of infiltration by militants.

The two leaders also discussed the ongoing peace initiatives undertaken by the Centre's representative, Dineshwar Sharma, the official added.

The prime minister and the chief minister also discussed various aspects of the implementation of the Rs 1 lakh crore package for Jammu and Kashmir, which was announced by Modi in 2015.

The central government has already sanctioned a total of Rs 62,599 crore of the package.

On Monday, the General Officer Commanding of the army's Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, Lt Gen A K Bhatt, had said a large number of terrorists were waiting at launching pads across the Line of Control (LoC) to cross over into Kashmir and that the ceasefire violations by Pakistan were an attempt to facilitate the entry of the infiltrators.

There were 515 incidents of infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir in 2017, in which 75 militants were killed. In 2016, there were 454 such cases, in which 45 militants were killed.

In January alone, eight civilians and six security personnel were killed and around 70 injured in ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the Indo-Pak border in the Jammu region.

The Pakistani troops had carried out intense shelling along the International Border (IB) in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts and from across the LoC in Poonch and Rajouri districts between January 18 and January 22.

While no ceasefire violation by Pakistan was reported along the IB since January 22, intermittent shelling has taken place along the LoC.

The home ministry had yesterday said it would reimburse all the funds spent by the Jammu and Kashmir government to pay compensation to the victims of cross-border firing.