NEW DELHI, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) --Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday convened an all party meeting to find a solution to end the ongoing protests in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.
During the closed door meeting, representatives of political parties impressed upon the government to immediately start confidence building measures and initiate talks with all stakeholders aimed at restoring peace and normalcy in the region that is on boil.
Apart from senior ministers in the Modi government, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and Sharad Yadav of JD(U) attended the meeting.
Separatist leaders in the region are critical of New Delhi's posturing and have been intensifying protest calendars to build pressure on the Indian government to call for talks aimed at resolving Kashmir issue.
The authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Friday extended curfew and restrictions in Muslim majority areas of the region.
Police and paramilitary troopers closed all routes leading to the Jamia Masjid (grand mosque) in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. Residents said for the fifth consecutive Friday the mosque was kept out of bounds for the public.
"A heavy deployment of police and paramilitary cordoned off the mosque area to prevent people from entering it," Mohammed Yasin, a resident said over telephone.
The local government has detained key separatist leaders fearing their participation in demonstrations would intensify anti-India protests and mobilize people in large numbers.
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