NSA Doval says its ‘purpose served’

New Delhi, Jun 14: With just a day or two left for the unilateral ceasefire, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday said that the purpose of Ramadhan ceasefire has been achieved as “people in Kashmir are happy”.
“We wanted to give respite to the common man in the Valley during Ramadhan, so they can observe the holy month peacefully. And during Ramadhan we stuck to our stance. The people there are happy and the purpose is served,” Doval was quoted as having said by NDTV.
With just a day or two left for the unilateral cessation of anti-militancy military operations in Kashmir, New Delhi is likely to decide today whether to extend it beyond Ramadhan or not.
In this connection, official sources say a high level meeting is likely to be chaired by home minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi which will be attended by chief secretary B B Vyas and the police chief Shesh Paul Vaid.
The meeting is a follow up to a security review made by Singh during his two-day visit to the state on June 7, his first after the unilateral ‘ceasefire’ was announced by him over twitter just before the fasting month began on May 16.
The state’s security officials had told Singh they were satisfied over the gains made in Kashmir after the military halted its anti-militancy military operations.
Singh himself too had expressed ‘satisfaction over improvement’ in the Kashmir situation since the halt.
The state government is in favour of extending the ‘ceasefire’, and Indian army chief Bipin Rawat too gave an indication to the same effect recently saying in an interview, “let’s give peace a chance”.