Talk to separatists: J&K CM takes Vajpayee's cue at Modi meet

New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and emphasised that dialogue was the only way to prevent the situation from deteriorating in the Valley.

She invoked former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's policy on Kashmir, and said the thread should be picked up from where he had left off - an apparent suggestion for talks with separatists.

"How long can you have confrontation...there is no option but to talk," Mehbooba said. "However, an atmosphere needs to be created for a dialogue," she said.

During the 20-minute meeting at Modi's residence in New Delhi, Mehbooba briefed the Prime Minister on the situation, particularly in the increase in violence since the April 9 by-poll for the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency.

Recent tensions in the PDP-BJP alliance over the handling of the security situation in Kashmir also came up at the meeting.

Referring to the increase in stone-pelting incidents, she said there were some young people who were "disillusioned" while some were being "instigated", including through the use of social media sites such as Facebook and Whatsapp.

The path of dialogue undertaken by Vajpayee is the only way out to resolve the Kashmir crisis, she said.

She also raised the Indus water treaty issue, saying it was causing a huge loss to the state.

Mehbooba said the Prime Minister assured her that efforts would be made to see how the state would be compensated for this.