Not combating terrorism, not wiping out the ISI, but economic reconstruction is going to be the most important element of the central government's approach towards Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for a 30-minute meeting on Monday.
A top source in the government said incidents like last week's killing of a Progressive Democratic Front legislator were worrying but need not translate as rejection of the "soft touch" offered by the Mufti government.
"We are going to play no games with Kashmir any more. The chief minister has conveyed to us that he wants to reconstruct Kashmir's economy and we are one with him," the source said.
The economic reconstruction of Kashmir has many elements. Sayeed has written to many industrial houses including Reliance, asking them to invest in Kashmir.
Several are beginning to view Kashmir now as a business proposition, not just a charity. The Norwegian government has proposed a grant in aid hydel project for the state that Norwegian Ambassador Truls Hannewold told Business Standard, will create 6000 jobs.
The state government's priority is to ensure the state's debt to the central government is restructured, and that the financing of the government, as distinct from the investment in the economy is encouraged.
The state government, according to Sayeed, also has sectoral priorities.
The most important is promotion of infrastructure like power, roads and railways.
The first part of this involves extension of the railway line network right up to Baramulla district.
The most powerful force that underwrites the economic reconstruction of the damaged economy is the fact that former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh is reported to be viewing this as a pet project.
Cutting across party lines, the former Union finance minister has urged economists who understand the state to contribute in a bipartisan manner to contribute to the revival of the state's economy.
Sayeed's other top political priority is to dismantle the legacy of the Farooq Abdullah government.
This means a large-scale bureaucratic reshuffle and suspending projects that the Abdullah government had begun, including the construction of a palatial summer-house close to the Secretariat for the convenience of the chief minister.
This project was kept in abeyance after the new chief minister said he had other priorities.
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