Restoration of statehood on cards? PM calls all-party meet with Jammu Kashmir leaders

The all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 24 is a major step towards the restoration of Jammu & Kashmir's statehood, a report said on June 20.

Among those invited for the meeting include former J&K chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and Ghulam Nabi Azad.

According to reports, Modi would be discussing the roadmap for restoring J&K's statehood with the representatives of all political parties to be present at the meeting.

Discussions, however, have been ruled out on restoring Article 370 - the now-abrogated law which granted J&K special status. The law was struck down on August 5, 2019, and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the two union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

J&K's main regional parties, National Conference (NC) and People's Democratic Party (PDP), along with some of the smaller outfits, had last year formed an amalgam - the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) - which seeks the restoration of Article 370.

The PAGD leaders have, however, indicated that they may hold talks with the Centre even if the discussion on Article 370 is not on the charts for now.

A formal decision to attend the June 24 meeting was yet to be announced by the NC and PDP leadership.

A party meeting was called by Mehbooba Mufti, the PDP chief, earlier in the day to finalise their response to the Centre's invite.

The NC leadership is also expected to issue a final call by June 21 on whether Farooq Abdullah would be attending the meeting called by the prime minister.