Cabinet meets on Kashmir issue ahead of Parliament
New Delhi: Amid an unprecedented lockdown and flaring tensions in Jammu and Kashmir, as uncertainty looms large over a build-up of troops in the valley, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) met on Monday for nearly an hour.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met at the PM’s residence.
Their meeting was preceeded by another metting that started an hour earlier in which Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was also present.
The CCS meeting that included Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lasted for 40 minutes.
It concluded before the Union Cabinet met that included Nitin Gadkari. Sources said that the committee discussed issues of internal security in the Valley.
The meeting comes after political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir including former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference chairman Sajad Lone, were placed under house arrest as strict restrictions were imposed in the Kashmir Valley from early Monday morning.
The state administration has also imposed Section 144 in Srinagar, as well as in Jammu, while mobile Internet services have also been suspended.
Shah is expected to speak in both Houses of Parliament as Congress MPs Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Ambika Soni and Bhubaneswar Kalita submitted adjournment motion notice in Rajya Sabha over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
