Omar Abdullah meets Modi and Rajnath Singh, seeks support for J-K statehood

A source close to the minister said, “The meeting lasted for about 20-25 minutes. It was a courtesy meeting. He (Omar) hadn’t come with any specific demand. It was largely to seek the government’s support in smooth functioning of the new government in J&K. There was a general discussion on security but nothing specific.”

Sources said the meeting with the PM lasted for about half an hour in which Omar presented a bouquet and a Kashmiri shawl to the PM.

On Wednesday, Omar had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and had similar discussions. All the leaders are learnt to have assured him of Centre’s cooperation in ushering in development in the UT.

Last week, as the first decision of the newly-formed government, the Cabinet chaired by Omar Abdullah had passed a resolution unanimously for restoration of statehood of J&K “in its original form”. This was agenda number one of the subjects listed for consideration in the first meeting.

Subsequently, the resolution was approved by L-G Manoj Sinha. “The restoration of statehood will be a beginning of a healing process, reclaiming the constitutional rights and protecting identity of people of Jammu and Kashmir,” a government statement issued Saturday stated.