Congress says 'no agenda' ahead of PM's meeting on J&K

The Congress party has said it is participating in Prime Minister Modi's meeting on Jammu and Kashmir without a 'particular agenda' and will express its views after the Prime Minister's address.

New Delhi: Just ahead of the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress party declared that it is going to participate in the meeting without any "particular agenda" and will only express its viewpoint after PM's address.

Three members of the Congress party are going to participate in today's meeting with PM Modi. This includes former Chief Minister of J&K Ghulam Nabi Azad, ex-deputy CM Tara Chand and J&K Congress Chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir. The three leaders held a meeting at Azad's residence in the national capital just ahead of the meeting to discuss the party's strategy.

While addressing the media, after the meeting, Mir said, "Congress was the first to appreciate this initiative of PM and that is why our three members are participating in this meeting. As there is no mention of the agenda of today's meeting, so we want PM to first mention the agenda of the meeting in his address and then we will express our viewpoint."

When asked if Congress is going to demand the restoration of Article 370, the J&K Congress Chief replied, "We will not speak on a particular demand in advance. We first want PM to mention the agenda of today's meeting, then we will respond accordingly."

On Sunday, Congress had categorically stated that it will stick to the demand of restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, which was mentioned in the resolution of Congress Working Committee on August 6, 2019.

During a press conference, Congress's Chief Spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had said, "INC believes that grant of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and also holding election so that people are able to elect their representatives and have an assembly of their own to carry on the affairs in the state instead of a rule by Delhi, is the only way forward to guarantee full restoration of democratic rights in Jammu and Kashmir."

After this, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram had also tweeted, "In the monsoon session, Parliament should repeal the offending laws and restore the status quo ante in J&K. This is the only way to draw the starting line for a political resolution of Kashmir issue."