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PM to visit Kashmir, may offer talks to separatists

New Delhi/Srinagar: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit the Kashmir Valley for two days beginning Monday during which he is expected to renew talks offer to separatist leaders and review central government-sponsored developmental works in the state. Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said Manmohan Singh will address the annual convocation of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of the Agricultural Science and Technology (SKUAST) on the banks of famed Dal Lake Monday. Manmohan Singh on his trip - the second since he was last year re-elected the prime minister - will be accompanied by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah. Both are former chief ministers of the state. Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan will also accompany the high-level delegation to the valley. PMO officials said the prime minister will hold discussions on the implementation of the recommendations of the five working groups formed for resolving problems in the state that has been battling a 20-year-old bloody separatist war. The working groups formed after the 2006 round table conference have suggested a series of measures for political and economic development of the state. Sources said the prime minister may renew the central government’s dialogue offer to Hurriyat Conference leaders as India-Pakistan peace talks were already back on the track. Home ministry officials have been maintaining that they have been holding secret talks with some Hurriyat leaders, but the separatists have publicly denied this. The prime minister’s visit comes amid an uproar over the alleged killing of three civilians by army personnel in a staged shootout on the Line of Control (LOC). A day ahead of Manmohan Singh’s trip, the army has suspended two accused officers and assured "transparent" probe into the incident that even has angered Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. A furious chief minister Saturday said that every shootout in Kashmir needed to be verified whether it was "genuine or not". Separatist leaders have called for a shutdown to protest alleged human rights abuse by security personnel while tight security arrangements have been made in the state capital for the prime minister’s visit. More security pickets have been erected at various places, and police have heightened vigil and are carrying out checks to combat threats from terror groups. This will be for the second time that the prime minister will be in the valley after the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government returned to power in April-May Lok Sabha elections last year. He along with Congress president Sonia Gandhi visited the valley in October last year to inaugurate a railway line. Manmohan Singh is likely to hold meetings with various political parties of the state. A meeting with senior security officials is also on cards to discuss the surge in infiltration attempts from across the border with Pakistan. Manmohan Singh will return to the national capital Tuesday.

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