Modi's dialogue offers mere rhetoric, says Cong

The Congress on Monday dismissed as “mere rhetoric” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “pain” and “concern” for the people of Kashmir which has been under curfew for the past 45 days.

Congress leaders received with scepticism Modi’s call for “fresh dialogue” to find a solution to put an end to the unrest that has roiled Kashmir for over a month.

“We do not think that the prime minister himself understands the essence of the concept in entirety,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said referring to Modi’s assurance to address the Kashmir issue on the basis of ‘insaniyat, jamhuriyat and Kashmiriyat’.

He also claimed that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Modi were not on the same page on the Kashmir issue. “The finance minister says there Kashmir is not a political problem, it is only a developmental problem … the prime minister on the other had offers dialogue,” he said.

Tewari said it was not clear with whom the prime minister wants to have a dialogue. “When you talk of dialogue, you talk to people who are estranged from you. You do not talk to such people who are with you and are part of the mainstream,” he said.