JAMMU: Praising Narendra Modi, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said the coalition between PDP and BJP in the state showcased the statesmanship of the Prime Minister who wants to carry people along not by “bullet” but by “ballot” and will of the people.
“When I was talking about meeting of North Pole and South Pole…I was right. It is historic. I see it as an opportunity. Had I formed the government on my own I would not have seen such an opportunity.
“The coalition that took place between PDP and BJP shows the statesmanship of Modi. He wants to carry people along not by bullet but by ballot and will of the people,” he told reporters during an interaction at his residence here.
Stating that Modi must have had a bigger picture in mind when he joined hands with PDP, Sayeed said, “There must be a purpose. He may have seen it on a bigger canvas. I say when you have some vision, when you work on bigger canvas, there is a bigger objective. I feel so. This is itself an indication.”
On Indo-Pak ties, Sayeed said, “There is no option other than peace process. There are some hiccups in between.
…Ultimately, the goal is – peace process will continue and our relations with our neighbor will improve and we will try for that.”
“I think we have to go together. If India has to emerge as a great country, it has to be friendly to his neighbors particularly Pakistan,” Sayeed added.
Batting strongly for strengthening of cross-border trade and travel between J&K and PoK, he said, “I get requests from people across the border that they want to stay here on extended permits of 15 days. My effort will be to strengthen CBMs (confidence building measures). As of now only relatives of the cross-border families come to this side”, he said.
“Those who want to engage in trade should do it when the situation is good with better facilities. And, those who want to travel between the two sides should be provided better facilities in this regard. There should also be more banking facilities,” he said.
Replying to a question regarding sending a delegation of journalists to Pakistan in connection with peace process, Sayeed said, “When track two diplomacy begins, we will see to that. There is a bit of problem in it as of now”.
On the government’s new ‘contractual’ recruitment policy, he said, “This recruitment policy for which we are facing huge criticism was meant to fill the vacancies of nurses, paramedics and others in health sector. We are soon going to put the policy in place.”
Asked about his term as Chief Minister, he said “We will complete three months on June 1. I do not want go into the details of the formation of this government… The decision we have taken was a conscious one.”
“It is a strong union. We have formed the government based on an agenda with focus on development, good governance, and transparency. We want to give a corruption-free government and strengthen the institutions in the state,” he said.–PTI
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