NEW DELHI, July 25: New Delhi on Thursday opened talks with a representative of the government of occupied Kashmir on granting autonomy to the held state.

Sources said the first round of talks took place in New Delhi between Arun Jaitly, a former Indian law minister and spokesman for the ruling BJP, and minister Ghulam Mohiudin Shah.

“During the one-and-a-half hour talks the two leaders discussed ways to restore peace in the trouble-torn state,” government sources told the Press Trust of India.

The Srinagar assembly in July 2000 passed a resolution urging New Delhi to grant autonomy to the held state except in the matters of defence, finance and communications. The resolution was summarily rejected by New Delhi.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee 10 days ago finally agreed to discuss the demands by nominating Jaitly as India’s pointman to discuss the autonomy issue with the Srinagar government.—AFP