Category: Union Territory

Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, who is also Chairman of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, launched a Mobile App for the devotees of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji at the Civil Secretariat here today.

This new initiative has been taken by the Shrine Board with a view to maximise the use of available technology and digitization for the larger facilitation of the devotees of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji. The mobile app would provide the opportunity to the worshippers across the globe to have an individual experience of godliness and bliss. In the first instance, the Mobile App has been launched on Google Play Store only which will later also be available on IOS platform.

Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor said that the Mobile App will be of immense help to the devotees worldwide to have the live darshan of Maa Vaishno Devi, besides availing various other facilities made available by the Shrine Board through this medium. Referring to the recently launched home delivery of Pooja Prasad by the Board, he said that it has been widely appreciated by the devotees. He also stressed that during the current situation due to COVID-19, the adoption of online services need to be promoted in a big way to maintain social distancing and other preventive measures to control the spread of pandemic.

Ramesh Kumar, CEO Shrine Board briefing the Lt Governor said that this App will provide an easy and convenient platform to the devotees to avail different facilities offered by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. Initially, five links have been provided in the App viz Today’s Darshan, Live Aarti, Yatra Registration Parchi, Pooja Prasad (Home Delivery) and Donations.

In Today’s Darshan Link, the daily Morning and Evening Darshan of the Holy Pindis will be available to the devotees after Morning Aarti (from 08:00 AM onwards) and after Evening Aarti (from 09:00 PM onwards). The Live webcast of the Atka Aarti performed at the Holy Cave will also be available to the devotees at the fixed timings i.e. from 06:20 AM to 08:05 AM and 07:20 PM to 09:05 PM daily.

The option of online yatra registration will also be available to the devotees, who wish to undertake the pilgrimage. The online yatra registration is available for the same day as well as advance booking upto 60 days. During the upcoming Navratras, the live streaming of Shat Chandi Maha Yagya being performed at the Holy Cave Shrine will also be available on this App.

The facility of Pooja for the pilgrims, in absentia, has been introduced and the same will also be available on this App.

Upon registration, the pilgrims have the option of getting the Prasad, after the performance of Pooja, in-absentia, delivered at their homes. Three denominations of Pooja Prasad viz. Rs. 500/-, Rs. 1100/- and Rs. 2100/- have been made available to the pilgrims. Besides, the option of online donations has also been made available in the App.

The facility of booking of various services like Battery Operated Vehicles, Helicopter Services, Accommodations, Online Hawan, etc. will also be made available on this App, shortly.

The Lt Governor directed CEO Shrine Board to ensure the best possible arrangements for the visiting pilgrims. He further directed the use of relevant technological interventions to maximise the facilitation of yatris.

The CEO also briefed about the various arrangements put in place for the pilgrims during the holy Navratras commencing from 17 October, 2020. These include sanitation and sanitization, water and power supply, medicare, fast related food at the bhojanalayas of the Board and other facilities. The CEO further briefed that as was done in the last year’s Shardiya Navratras, there will be bhajan and bhaint performances by the renowned artistes during Morning and Evening Atka Aarti during these Navratras also.(KINS)

Effective coordination mandatory for revival of tourism across the country: Union Tourism Minister

Srinagar: Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (IC) Shri Prahlad Singh Patel Thursday held a virtual meeting with the State Tourism Ministers and Administrators of Union Territories for revival of tourism activities across the country.

Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Baseer Ahmad Khan and Secretary Tourism, Youth Services and Sports, Sarmad Hafeez participated in the meeting on behalf of J&K Government.

In his address, the Union minister said that COVID-19 pandemic has affected the tourism activities across the world and with the easing of restrictions through Unlock 5.0, the tourism activities will be revived in India. He added that effective coordination between centre, states and UTs is mandatory for successful revival of the tourism industry.

The Minister further asked the participants to facilitate ease of travel between states and UTs for promotion of domestic tourism. He impressed upon them to explore possibilities of providing incentives to Tourism and Hospitality sectors of their respective places as they have been worst affected due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Prahlad Patel impressed upon the ministers and representatives of states/UTs to maintain all public utilities, hotels and other places along their respective National Highways under proper COVID protocols so that tourists feel at ease while travelling and staying along these places.

Speaking during the meeting, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Baseer Ahmad Khan informed the minister that J&K is a potential tourist place receiving tourists from all across the world in large numbers. He added that the tourism sector contributes around 7-8% to the annual GDP of J&K.

The Advisor further informed the minister that the J&K Administration has already put in place a proper policy for revival and survival of tourism sector besides a mechanism for facilitation of tourists intending to visit J&K. He added that the policy of System for Assessment, Awareness and Training for Hospitality Industry (SAATHI) has been effectively rolled out here for hassle free facilitation of tourists.

Advisor Baseer Khan informed the minister that the pilgrimage tourism is also going on smoothly in J&K and a circuit from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine to Kashmir will be made operational soon for increasing the tourist influx.

Advisor Baseer Khan further informed the that Khelo India 2020 winter games will be held in J&K by which a good number of tourists and sportspersons are expected to arrive here. He asked the minister to cap the air fares during peak winter season when the roads get blocked due to adverse weather conditions besides additional flights during this period.(KINS)

New Delhi: With Jammu and Kashmir planning to hold panchayat and municipal by-elections in October-November, the restoration of high-speed internet services in the valley has been deferred yet again. The decision was taken during a recent security review held by the state administration and officials from the Union home ministry, said people aware of the matter.

Conducting by-elections would be a challenge for the government amid increasing militant attacks on political workers and leaders.

As per official data, there are nearly 11,500 panch and 890 sarpanch seats vacant in Kashmir, while 185 panch and 124 sarpanch seats are vacant in Jammu division. “Internet restrictions may continue, except in two districts. The J&K administration will issue another order by October 21,” said a senior government official, who did not wish to be identified.

The Centre restored 2G services in J&K in January but did not allow 4G, triggering filing of petitions before the Supreme Court. A special committee was set up on the directions of the court to examine the resumption of 4G internet.

With inputs from the Economic Times

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Aims at empowering ULBs, providing proactive governance at door-step

Srinagar: The Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam Thursday chaired a meeting to review preparations for the upcoming ‘My Town, My Pride’ programme to be organized across the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) on 19th- 20th October, 2020.

Administrative Secretaries of departments of Home, and Housing & Urban Development, besides Divisional Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir along with Commissioners SMC/JMC, all the Deputy Commissioners, and concerned HoDs participated in the meeting.

Aimed at further empowering and strengthening the framework of the Urban Local Bodies, the 2-day programme will include closer review of their functioning, besides taking up mobilisation of funds toward developmental activities in addition to the public outreach.

On the lines of recently concluded ‘Back to Village’ programme, the ‘My Town, My Pride’ programme also envisages time-bound delivery of documents like domicile, SC/ST/RBA/ALC/OBC certificates; revenue services besides ensuring benefits under various welfare schemes including pensions, scholarships, PMAY, KCC, Health Golden Cards, Ladli Beti, among others.

It has been decided that for the purpose of providing a mega push to the developmental activities Rs 50 lakh, Rs 1 crore and Rs 5 crore will be released to each Municipality, Municipal Council, and Municipal Corporation, respectively.(KINS)

‘J&K to be power surplus in next 4 years’

Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha Thursday held a press conference here at Auditorium Complex, Raj Bhavan. While interacting with the media persons, the Lt Governor highlighted the achievements made in J&K on the developmental front in recent times.

The Lt Governor observed that corruption-free and transparent governance is the priority of the present dispensation. He assured that he would ensure more use of technology for quick, hassle-free services like online building permissions, clearance of contractors’ bills, and other payments.

He further said that ‘In the last two months, several major steps have been taken up by J&K administration to empower villages and urban areas of the Union Territory, and to make government more responsive and accessible to the people. My first and only motto is development across 20 districts without any discrimination’, he added.

“Apart from endeavouring to universalize the Centrally Sponsored Schemes in J&K, we have tried to give a push to the ongoing important projects of public importance benefitting common man, which had been languishing for years and some of them even for decades, he continued,” he said as per news agency KINS.
‘As part of the recently concluded Back to Village programme’, informed the Lt Governor, ‘Block Diwas was conducted at 285 different locations in which around 4.5 lakh people participated. During the programme, total 13675 works started after earlier phases of B2V were completed while another 5980 were taken up’.

‘During the programme, 4440 sports kits were distributed to ignite spark of sports in every panchayat, 3959 dustbins were installed to promote cleanliness and 2430 families provided a house under Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana’, he said.

The Lt Governor further said that 4,25,258 Domicile Certificates, 45,327 Category Certificates, and 51,097 birth/ death/ disability certificates were issued in addition to a greater number of social welfare pensions sanctioned during B2V3.

Announcing his aim of achieving public outreach in towns, strengthening of grass-root democracy, and delivering services at doorsteps of the urban population, the Lt Governor announced that the government is coming up with ‘My Town My Pride’ movement, which starts from 19th October. We have three main objectives – Public outreach in towns, Strengthening grass-root democracy, and service delivery at doorsteps. I have been pushing for on spot Grievance Redressal, Instant delivery of services to the masses, and on the ground speedy execution of people-centric projects.

On languishing projects, the Lt Governor announced that 44 long-languishing projects have been completed in the month of September alone, while another 1798 projects are being expedited for completion.

We are number one among all the States and UT’s as far as performance in PMGSY is concerned. We have already completed 1,392 kms and maximum progress was made between 1st June to 15th October.
Blacktopping has been completed at the stretch of total 2,759 kms, including 1,250 kms of PMGSY roads.

In the last two months, various steps were taken for the development of the Agriculture and Horticulture sectors. We are distributing free “Thresher” to every Panchayat to ensure harvest process is not hampered. We are finalizing a proposal to provide 500 tractors to willing farmers on subsidized rates.
We are also identifying stretches for the construction of Public Conveniences infrastructure in the cities, towns, and along the highways. It will have standard designs, a common theme, and common branding. We are hoping to construct about 700-800 Public Toilets within three months’ time.

Historic Economic Package has been announced for the revival of the business sector in J&K.

The 5% interest subvention in favour of the business establishments was the main incentive extended by the administration. The government order has already been issued on 1st October, 2020 and the necessary modalities are being worked out by J&K Bank.
The list of borrowers has also been received and interest subvention is being released within a week’s time in favour of eligible investors pending since years 2014 and 2016.

As far as Loans for business support to fresh borrowers are concerned, loans have been sanctioned to 6998 fresh borrowers as on 12th October, 2020 and an amount of Rs 53.21 crore disbursed to 3516 youth. Under Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL, an amount of Rs 1622.21 crores has been disbursed against 58,437 borrowers. Regarding Business Support Loan, Rs 47.90 crores against 1317 borrowers already stands disbursed.

We are also giving a relief amount of Rs.1000 per month ( for Nine Months) to performing artists and the government will spend at least Rs. 1.8 Crore; Rs. 1000 per month to Shakarawala, Workers, Gudies in House Boats as a relief amount and government will spend 11.95 crore on this; Drivers, cleaners who have moved to construction sector due to pandemic will be paid Rs.1000 per month for six months and the government will spend Rs.80 crore on this; 50% subsidy or Rs. 5 Lakh whichever is lower will be provided to the transporters for replacements of old buses. We are spending around Rs. 25 crore for this relief, said the Lt Governor.

The Lt Governor thanked the Prime Minister for approving a special package of Rs.520 Crore for UTs of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission. It will improve the quality of life of rural households and lead to women’s empowerment to achieve the goals of Antyodaya in Jammu Kashmir, he added.
The Lt Governor also highlighted the Department-wise achievements.
He observed that many important health projects sanctioned as early as 2009-10 had been pending unattended. We have tried to expedite them and the results will be available on ground for all to see.

Speaking on the health sector, the Lt Governor said, ‘The work on 200 Bedded District Hospitals at Ganderbal and 500 bedded state of the art Paediatric Hospital at Bemina, which were started in 2009 and 2012 respectively were being delayed unnecessarily. We ensured that the works on these projects are expedited and both the hospitals are set to open next month. Work on Unani Hospital Ganderbal, which was going on at snail’s pace since 2011 has been sped up and the hospital is ready to be dedicated to the public, with minor works like lift etc pending’, he added.

In further announcements, the Lt Governor said that the work is going on the projects like GMC Anantnag, GMC Baramulla, District Hospital Reasi, Lal Ded Maternity Hospital, and Bone & Joint Hospital, 100 bedded Hospital at Kot Bhalwal in Jammu and Govt Ayurvedic College and Hospital Akhnoor and will be completed soon.

The Lt Governor further said that, GMC Rajouri, Doda, and Kathua are likely to be completed within the next 6 months. ‘The work on AIIMS, Vijaypur (District Samba) has been started and is set to augment the Health Infrastructure of Jammu Kashmir Union Territory by August 2022’, he informed.

I am also committed to providing quality and accessible healthcare services to the people of J&K. JK Health Insurance scheme viz ‘Sehat’ will cover each and every citizen of this Union territory and will also cover those not included under Ayushman Bharat, he added.

Under the power sector, the Lt Governor announced that modalities have been finalized for the upcoming 850MW, new joint venture Ratle project. The project is expected to augment the existing generation capacity in the region.

‘Cumulatively, the upcoming power projects will generate 6298 MW at the cost of Rs 54,593 crores substantially enhancing the generation capacity in the region’, said the Lt Governor. ‘It has taken us 40 years to reach capacity of 3000 MW power generation. I assure that the target of next 3,000 MW will be reached within the next four years’, he said. ‘All options will be explored to make Jammu Kashmir self-sufficient in Power Sector’, he added.

Speaking on the government’s effort under social welfare activities, the Lt Governor said, ‘the Government of J&K is making untiring efforts and special initiatives have been taken to ensure 100% coverage of eligible beneficiaries under 55 Beneficiary Oriented flagship Schemes implemented in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. All the stakeholders are being involved so that the benefits of these schemes reach to every single beneficiary.

Stating his commitment ‘to push the development projects that are languishing due to a variety of reasons in J&K, various iconic projects were initiated to give a fillip to the development scenario of the Union Territory. Not just economic development, these iconic projects have their own significance and uniqueness’, said the Lt Governor.

According to the Lt Governor, a total of 270 iconic projects at a value of Rs 12972.12 crores are under execution in 17 districts of J&K with an average value of Rs 48.04 crore for each project. He said that most of the projects will be completed during the financial year 2021-22.
Highlighting various initiatives taken for the growth and development of the Agriculture sector in J&K, the Lt Governor reiterated his commitment for working for viable, sustainable, and profitable agriculture and allied sectors.

Several initiatives are being taken to promote Agriculture, Horticulture and also encouraging farmers for diversification.

We wish to make Our UT one of the top Apple producing areas in the world. Currently, J&K contributes to 88% of national production of apple, 93 of walnut & Almond each and 94% of cherry. I am also working on a plan to establish food processing units that will generate employment and lead to the overall economic growth of the region. We have also completed 1 District 1 Product survey, the Lt Governor maintained, the Lt Governor affirmed.

A slew of major Steps taken to support includes Rs. 12 Crore Subsidy for Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage; 50% Subsidy for High-Density Planting; 50% Subsidy for Mechanisation; Rs. 90,000/- for irrigation; Rs.2 Lakh for Pack House and Rs 50,000/- for Vermi-compost.

The Lt Governor observed that J&K is witnessing massive road infrastructural development. The Government of India is giving a dedicated focus on strengthening road connectivity through some major road projects that will ultimately boost the economic growth of the UT and its people.

The initiating of the work of Zojila Tunnel by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari ji is a historic milestone, he added.

7 more Tunnels are in the pipeline to strengthen the road connectivity across J&K. Construction of the 8450-metre-long twin-tube tunnel between Qazigund and Banihal will be completed by the coming March. 2968-metre-long 6-single tunnels road between Ramban and Banihal is due for completion in December 2021. Khilani to Kishtwar, 450 mtr long tunnel will be completed by June 2022.

DPR for 4.5 km long Chenani to Anantnag Tunnel near Sudhmahadev is prepared and tender will be floated soon. DPRs for Rs 4600 cr worth 10.20 Km long Sinthan Pass tunnel and Rs 350 cr worth Gelani Bypass Tunnel have been finalized and Tender for Rs 5400 cr valued Chattru to Anantnag Tunnel will be floated soon as its DPR is also finalized.

All the projects will be started in the coming year, announced the Lt Governor.

One of the historic achievements in the history of J&K will be the Rs 21,000 cr valued Delhi-Katra Expressway, work on which will be commenced in the month of December this year. With the completion of this ambitious project, the distance between Delhi to Katra will be reduced to 650 kms and it will only take 8 hours to cover the distance, said the Lt Governor.

Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department; Navin Kumar Choudhary, Principal Secretary, Animal And Sheep Husbandry Department; Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary, Power Development Department, and Information Department and Sh. Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Commissioner/Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department also spoke on the occasion and highlighted the achievements made by their respective departments.

BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lt Governor; Sheetal Nanda, Secretary, Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj; Simrandeep Singh, Secretary, Public Grievances were also present during the Press Conference.(KINS)

Srinagar: Political parties in Kashmir on Thursday gave formal shape to their alliance formed after revocation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 last year.

The decision was taken at an all-party meeting attended by National Conference chairman Farooq Abdullah, former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, and other senior leaders.

“The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration aims to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional status as it existed before August 5 last year,” said Farooq Abdullah.

“The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration favours initiation of dialogue between all stakeholders for resolution of the J&K issue.”

The Gupkar Declaration is a resolution issued after an all-party meeting on August 4, 2019, at the Gupkar residence of the NC president. The resolution, passed a day before the Centre announced its decision to abrogate Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and split it into two Union territories, said the parties unanimously resolved they would stand united in their effort to protect and defend the identity, autonomy and special status of Jammu and Kashmir against all attacks and onslaughts.

The parties had met again in August this year and vowed to fight for restoration of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. (Agencies)

Srinagar: Two days after her release, former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti Thursday morning visited her father’s grave in south Kashmir’s Bijbehara.

Accompanied by several party leaders, she visited Mufti Mohammad Saeed’s grave amid tight security arrangements in place.

A senior police official told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS) that adequate security arrangements have been made in the area in view of recent attacks in South Kashmir.

Mehbooba was released from detention after 14 months on Tuesday evening.

Since the death of her father, Mehbooba has been visiting her father’s grave on his death anniversary.

However, she could not go there this year as she was under detention since August 5 last year. On January 7 this year, Mehbooba’s daughter also wanted to visit her grandfather’s grave but was denied permission by the authorities.

On Wednesday, National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah along with his son Omar Abdullah met Mehbooba at her residence a day after her release.

Farooq has convened a meeting at his residence at 4-pm today for chalking out the future course of action on ‘Gupkar Declaration’. Mehbooba will also be attending the meeting.(KINS)

According to official statistics, 131 Kashmiri youngsters have joined militant groups this year as against 117 last year. Local recruitment figures stood at 214 in 2018 and 128 in 2017.

Srinagar: In a big concern for security establishments, the local militant recruitment in Kashmir has officially reached 131 since the beginning of this year, and it could reach as high as 180 by December-end according to internal assessment of security forces, ThePrint has learnt.

Security agencies also believe the numbers could go up further but lack of weapons is what is preventing recruitment by the militant groups.

It has also come to light that the long defunct militant group Al Badr, created in 1999 by Pakistan, has been revived again with the group getting 17 fresh recruits into its ranks in July and August. It had zero recruits for a long time now.

Security agencies are still trying to figure out why Al Badr has been activated even when Pakistan has floated militant fronts such as The Resistance Front and People’s Anti Fascist Front to claim attacks by militant groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

“The idea behind the two new organisations is to give an indigenous spin to the militant activities in Kashmir and to absolve Pakistan, which has been under heat due to the FATF sword hanging over its head,” a source in the defence and security establishment said.

The source added that the effort was to show that militancy in J&K is actually a fight against the government in New Delhi rather than a religion-backed fight.

These developments come even as the security forces eliminated nearly 180 militants in operations since the beginning of this year, including 169 in the hinterland, as of last weekend.

88 active militants in North Kashmir, 123 in south 

According to official statistics, 131 Kashmiri youngsters have joined the militant group this year as against 117 last year. The local recruitment figures in 2018 and 2017 were 214 and 128, respectively.

Of the 89 locals who had joined militant groups by August-end, 57 were eliminated by the security forces in encounters where efforts were made to first make them surrender by bringing in family members to appeal to the youngsters, sources said.

In north Kashmir, sources in the defence and security establishment said, there are 88 active militants in all and 66 of them are from Pakistan.

However, in south Kashmir, there are at least 123 active militants. According to the sources, only 25 of them are Pakistanis militants while the rest are all locals.

“The number of recruitment is very high. This is something that has been repeatedly flagged,” said a source, with another adding that it is estimated that the figure could actually reach 180 by the end of this year.

According to a study conducted by the Army on the profile of militant recruitment in 2018, 30 per cent of the recruits were in the age group of 16-20 years while 60 per cent were in the age group of 21-25 years. Only 10 per cent of the recruits were in the age group of 26-30 years.

In terms of education, the study showed that 20 per cent of the recruits were illiterate while 45 per cent had higher secondary schooling and 35 per cent were Matriculate.

The study also looked at the financial background and showed that 60 per cent of the militants came from the middle class while 35 per cent came from the lower middle class. Only 5 per cent of the militants came from well-to-do families.

Militants face weapons shortage

Sources said the militants are facing a shortage of weapons. “It is estimated that they are waiting for weapons and ammunition to recruit more,” said a source.

In many of the recent encounters, only pistols were recovered from the dead militants, indicating that the earlier commonly used weapon, AK 47s, are short in supply.

The fact that there are shortages of weapons is also borne out through the recovery list maintained by the security forces.

Since January this year, the security forces have recovered 172 pistols as against 142 AK series of assault rifles besides 5 American M4 and 2 M16 rifles along with 17 other weapons snatched from security forces in the past.

“There is great dearth of weapons and ammunition for the militants and hence Pakistan is trying to push in weapons into the Valley not just from the LoC side but also through the International Border on Jammu, Punjab and even Rajasthan side. Pakistan is also trying to drop weapons through drones,” a source said.

With inputs from ThePrint

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Srinagar: Unknown gunmen on Thursday evening fired upon ex militant at Kakapora area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Official sources told GNS that Unknown gunmen fired upon Ex militant namely Tanveer Sofi at Kakapora near J&K Bank resulting serious injury to him. He was immediately removed to Srinagar hospital for treatment.

Soon after the attack whole area has been cordoned off.(GNS)

In a wide-ranging interview with an Indian journalist, PM Imran Khan’s security adviser says Kashmir must be on the agenda for talks.

Islamabad: Pakistan is prepared to sit down for talks with regional rival India, with whom it came close to an all-out military conflict last year, provided that Kashmiris are provided a seat at the table, Pakistan’s national security adviser has said.

“I will tell you very honestly, in the past year, we’ve gotten messages about a desire for conversation [from India],” Moeed Yusuf told Indian journalist Karan Thapar during a wide-ranging interview on Tuesday.

Yusuf advises Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on national security and strategic policy.

“We have got to think strategically. These are two countries, have terrible relations, we need to sit down like adults,” he told Thapar. “There are […] fundamentally two issues: Kashmir and terrorism. I want to talk about both.”

Yusuf also accused India of sponsoring armed groups that carry out attacks on Pakistani soil.

He said Pakistan had specific evidence linking India’s intelligence services to the 2014 massacre of more than 130 pupils in Peshawar, a 2019 attack on a luxury hotel in southern Pakistan, a 2018 attack on a Chinese consulate in Karachi and the recent merger of several Pakistani Taliban factions into a single group.

The interview, conducted at times in a combative tone, was the first time a senior Pakistani official had spoken to Indian news media since August 2019, when India revoked a special status for the portion of the disputed territory of Kashmir that it administers.

The Pakistani NSA said there was a need for the Kashmir dispute and issues around “terrorism” to be on the agenda for any future talks.

“There are three parties to the Kashmir dispute. There is Pakistan, there is India and there is the principal party, the humans called Kashmiris,” said Yusuf.

“If the Kashmiris can’t stand the sight of India, can’t bear to be in the same room as the Indians, how are we going to have a dialogue?”

Yusuf did not specify which group or individuals he meant specifically when he called for the “Kashmiris” to be a part of the talks.

Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir, which both claim in full, but administer over separate portions divided by a Line of Control.

Last year, the two countries came close to another war, after Indian air strikes on Pakistani soil prompted aerial skirmishes that saw Pakistan launch retaliatory strikes and shoot down an Indian aircraft.

India’s action was sparked by the killing of more than 40 security personnel in a suicide attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pulwama town, an attack India blamed on Pakistan-based armed groups.

Pakistan denies allowing armed groups to use its territory for action against other countries, specifically India.

‘Fiction’ and ‘pipe dream’: India

In his interview, Yusuf also claimed India had sent a “message for a desire for conversation” with Pakistan, without elaborating further.

“But why is there a desire? In my reading, to talk, to get somewhere,” he said. “There has to be an enabling environment to talk.”

Relations between the two South Asian nuclear powers have remained frozen since India changed the constitutional status of Indian-administered Kashmir, absorbing the Muslim-majority territory into the country’s administrative and political mainstream – a move decried by Pakistan.

India’s government did not offer official comments on the interview.

However, in a report on Wednesday, India’s Hindustan Times newspaper quoted a top Indian official as saying Yusuf’s claims were “fiction” and not just “mischievous but also a pipe dream”.

“Officials added that New Delhi’s stand on holding any conversation with Pakistan had been consistent and was preconditioned on Islamabad taking concrete steps to build an atmosphere free from the shadow of terror and violence,” said the report, which did not reveal the identity of the official.

India’s intelligence agency targeted

Pakistan has routinely accused India of being associated with attacks on Pakistani soil, particularly in the southwestern province of Balochistan.

On Tuesday, however, Yusuf made specific allegations against India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW or R&AW).

“[In] 2019, the Indian embassy funds were used, more than a million US dollars, to effect the merger [of Pakistan Taliban],” he said. “Congratulations to the RAW, they have succeeded in creating an organisation to kill Pakistanis.”

Yusuf accused RAW of being in contact with Malik Faridoon, a man he identified as the “mastermind” of the 2014 attack on a school in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar that killed 132 children – one of the deadliest attacks ever on the country’s soil.

“We have records of eight phone calls, we have records of phone numbers, we have records of handlers who orchestrated this entire thing sitting in a third country,” he said.

He also linked RAW to the attack on the Chinese consulate in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in 2018, and to an attack on a luxury hotel in the southern port town of Gwadar last year that killed five people. India denies the allegations.

Responding to Indian allegations that Pakistan had delayed the trials of those Pakistanis accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed more than 160 people, Yusuf said the law was taking its course.

“We have to follow the course of law, and India is not cooperating in the evidence it needs to provide,” said Yusuf. “Get the witnesses over, provide the evidence, I want to end this before anybody else.”

He made similar allegations regarding the slow pace of progress in the appeal of Indian citizen Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was convicted for spying and sentenced to death by a Pakistani court in 2017.

Yusuf also responded to a question on Pakistan’s silence on the issue of the alleged persecution of Uighur Muslims in China, a strategic ally and Pakistan’s northeastern neighbour, by terming the allegations “a non-issue”.

“Even our delegations have visited, we have seen and we are 100 percent satisfied that it is a non-issue,” he said. “The West can say what it wants […] we have zero concerns.”

With inputs from Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera’s Asad Hashim contributed to this report from Islamabad.