The Centre’s newly appointed interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, will land in Srinagar on Monday for a six-day visit, media reports on Thursday said.
“He will stay in Srinagar for four days and will leave for Jammu after that to meet various groups and individuals for the next two days,” reports quoting official sources said. Sharma will visit Leh in the next leg of his tour, dates for which have not been announced yet.
The interlocutor is likely to start his itinerary by meeting students and youth delegations.
“Understanding their aspirations and expectations from the government is an extremely important part of the dialogue process,” said Sharma, who has already met a few delegations in New Delhi. “So far, more than two dozen groups, political leaders and individuals have expressed their desire to meet Sharma,” added the source.
He is likely to be accompanied by Union home ministry officials dealing with the state.
The government appointed Sharma as the Centre’s representative on October 24 to ‘initiate and carry forward a dialogue with elected representatives, various organisations and concerned citizens of Jammu and Kashmir’. His appointment was announced by home minister Rajnath Singh in a specially convened press conference.
Pertinently , ahead of his departure, the Hurriyat Conference in a joint statement by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Yasin Malik, rejected overtures for a dialogue with Sharma.