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PM invites Abdullah to Delhi for talks

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Tuesday invited Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah to Delhi "to discuss the autonomy issue."

Speaking to newspersons during his visit to the historic Hazratbal shrine, Vajpayee surprised everyone by saying that there were many things to talk and discuss and that there was nothing like "outright rejection (of the autonomy report)."

The prime minister, who was accompanied by Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and Defence Minister George Fernandes, visited the shrine after attending the funeral of Begum Abdullah, the chief minister's mother.

Later in the day, reacting to the invitation, chief minister Abdullah said: "I will go to the Union capital on July 15."

Before that, he said, the National Conference would meet and decide the agenda for his meeting with the prime minister.

The NC meeting, which had remained inconclusive yesterday, was cancelled following the sudden death of Begum Abdullah.

In reply to a question regarding the significance of the prime minister's visit to Hazratbal, the chief minister said: "You must know, Hazratbal is a religious and political centre. And his visit has political and religious significance."

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