Omar questions Mehbooba's absence from meet on Kashmir

Srinagar, July 12: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Tuesday took a swipe at Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for not taking part in the crucial meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to review the volatile situation in Kashmir.

However, a senior official in Jammu and Kashmir clarified that since it was a briefing by central ministers on the Kashmir situation, Mehbooba had no role in the high-level meeting.

On the micro blogging site twitter, Omar criticised Mehbooba, who is heading PDP-BJP Government in the state, for leaving the meeting unrepresented by the state. "I understand if @MehboobaMufti didn't leave the state to attend but why not by video conference? State unrepresented. "We set up video links for all sorts of meaningless things but here where it matters to have @MehboobaMufti involved in the process - nothing," the former chief minister tweeted.

Modi on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting on the situation in Kashmir Valley which has witnessed violent protests in the wake of the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, leaving 24 dead and over 300 injured.

The meeting was attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Minister of State for PMO Jitendra Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar among others.

PTI