NEW DELHI, Feb 3: As authorities in Srinagar took custody of senior police officers involved in the cold-blooded murder of Kashmiri civilians, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday called for fresh approaches to define and deal with insurgencies raging in the country.

The prime minister’s comments at a book release in New Delhi were not related to the developments in Srinagar, but the move to arrest two police officers for their alleged involvement in the bounty killings of ordinary Kashmiris was being seen as part fulfilment of a promise he made there in May to snuff out rights abuse from the Himalayan region.

“The mix between dissent and consensus building -- how do we evolve new patterns of dealing with the challenges that are now on the horizon. These issues require a lot more intellectual effort than is, has been going into the analysis of these processes,” Dr Singh said in Delhi.

“The problems of the North East, the problems in Jammu and Kashmir, the problems that we face in naxalite affected areas. They are well-known problems. Problems have persisted but solutions have to be found taking into account the varied needs of our time,” the prime minister said.

Dr Singh said India’s experience over the past 60 years had removed doubts about its ability to practice democracy. “There were also critics in the 1960s who doubted whether India would remain as one country. They were friends of India. We have proved all these critics, cynics wrong. But eternal vigilance is the price that we have to pay and therefore, there are weak points, there are corrosive influences at work.”