Omar Abdullah meets Chidambaram

NEW DELHI - Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah met Home Minister P Chidambaram here today.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Abdullah said that they discussed ways to deal with future crisis situations in the state.

“We also discussed the requirements in terms of non-lethal equipment for the State police force and para-military forces to control large crowds. However, the primary aim was to discuss our plan of action for the days and weeks to come to deal with the present situation,” he added.

He insisted on the need for more measures to stop inflow of funds to protesters and implementing better crowd-control techniques.

He also discussed the issue of Army deployment in Srinagar.

He pointed out that the Army is engaged in counter insurgency operations and is deployed along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border. “However, there is no role of the Army within the state,” he said.

Pointing out that no casualties have taken place since last Tuesday, Omar said, “There have been no casualties in the last week and even though people are coming out on the roads, the size and intensity of the protests have decreased.

Asked about the Opposition’s allegation that he was losing control over the government, he said that there was no point talking about such things now since the opposition was given a chance to express views at the all-party meeting which some boycotted.

Abdullah will meet Defence Minister A K Antony later in the day.

The meeting comes after days of violence in the Valley caused by clashes between protesters and security forces.

At least 15 people were killed in clashes between protesters and security forces since June 11. (ANI)