After Attacking Modi Over Economy, Yashwant Sinha Now Rips Into Government's Kashmir Policy

After taking a jibe on the Modi-led NDA regime over the mess in the economy, former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha is continuing his criticism of the government over the Kashmir issue.

On Monday, he said that there was an urgent need to revive negotiations initiated by Atal Bihari Vajpayee to resolve the Kashmir crisis.

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"The current regime in power is doing nothing to take the peace process forward," he said while delivering a talk on 'Kashmir Now & Way Forward' at the Manthan Samvaad-2017 lecture and debate series in Hyderabad.

Pointing out that the Congress-led UPA had continued with the Vajpayee initiative from 2004 to 2014, Sinha said: "The current government has merely stated about continuity of the initiative in its March 2015 agenda [document], but Kashmiris are still waiting for last two and half years to see the process begin."

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Sinha said successive regimes in Delhi have let down the Kashmiris. "First, talk to your own people in Kashmir, then with various groups and finally with Pakistan," advised Sinha, adding that Pakistan has become a necessary third party because of "our own mistakes".

Calling the current crisis in the Valley just the tip of an iceberg, he warned, "Continued suppression by the Army has hardened the Kashmiri youth, who have overcome the fear of death and are ready to wage bigger wars."

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He reiterated that the Kashmir crisis is a political problem and not a mere security issue. Even army generals have said that they had dealt with militants and crushed them and that it's time to start the peace process at the political level, but the dialogue has not started since March 2015, the former minister said.