Srinagar, Sept. 21: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah hoped that the Central government would come out with something substantial following an ice-breaking visit to the Kashmir Valley by political leaders from New Delhi.
Speaking to a TV channel, the Chief Minister praised the leaders of various parties for going out of their way and holding separate meetings with leaders of the separatist movement in the state.
"I don't think anybody expected them to reach out," he said, referring to the meetings in Srinagar Monday with Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Yasin Malik of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) after the three refused to meet a delegation that had flown in from New Delhi.
He said while the meetings with the separatists were by themselves significant, it is only the first step. "Unless something concrete follows, this will just be a symbolic interaction with the people."
"I am hoping something substantial will come out of these meetings," he said.