Former Research & Analysis Wing chief Amarjit Singh Dulat has slammed PM Narendra Modi, saying his predecessors Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh handled the Kashmir issue effectively.

The ex-RAW chief said that the Jammu & Kashmir issue could be solved, but Prime Minister Modi has wasted 18 months by not engaging in a dialogue with Pakistan.

Dulat was speaking to a leading daily on the sidelines of a discussion on his bestselling tome "Kashmir, The Vajpayee Years".

He said that after Jawaharlal Nehru, it was Vajpayee who handled the Kashmir issue effectively and that even his immediate predecessor Manmohan Singh tried his best to settle the disputable issue.

"Vajpayee was a leader and a politician and Modi should learn politics and it is the differentiating issue between the two. Modi in my humble opinion has to learn politics and it is pity he did not learn it from Vajpayee who is the greatest Indian politician," The Times of India quoted him as saying.

Dulat even endorsed the recent controversial statement by National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah that Kashmir belongs to India and PoK to Pakistan.

The former RAW chief added that Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) should be repealed in Srinagar and Budgam districts of the state.

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