Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Monday announced that former Intelligence Bureau (IB) director Dineshwar Sharma will head a "sustained dialogue with all stakeholders" in Jammu and Kashmir, to find a solution to the political issues in the Valley.
"The government has decided to appoint the former director of IB, Dineshwar Sharma as the representative of the government to initiate dialogue," Singh said during a press conference.
Sharma will initiate the sustained interaction with elected representatives of Jammu and Kashmir, political parties and other organisations in order to understand legitimate aspirations of the people of Kashmir, Singh added.
"The outreach process will begin soon, with a special focus on the youth of Kashmir. The government representative, Dineshwar Sharma, will have all the rights to engage whatever parties he wishes to," the home minister was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
Sharma hopes that he will be serve the pupose of the initiative. "It's a big responsibility, hope I live up to expectations," Sharma told ANI.
Sharma ia a Kerala-cadre Indian Police Service officer of the 1976 batch and was made the chief of the Intelligence Bureau on December 13, 2014. He has also worked with National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval.
Meanwhile, Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted that he "will keep an open mind & wait to see results of the dialogue process."
