India to ‘uphold Kashmiri rights’
Prime minister says protection of human rights in the region is a priority.
Police killings
“I do admit that there are problems… But we will continue to take steps to ensure that the deployment of security forces is directly related to the scale of the problems on the ground; that violation of human rights are minimised,” he said.
Earlier this year authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir arrested more than a dozen police officers for the abduction and murder of three men falsely accused of being part of an armed separatist movement against New Delhi’s rule.
The fighting has killed at least 42,000 people since it broke out in 1989.
Many Kashmiri groups including separatists and allies of the ruling Congress party in Kashmir have demanded a cut in the number of troops stationed in the region.
Despite a boycott of the roundtable by key separatists, Singh promised to keep the dialogue process with Kashmiri groups in the region going.
Separatists in Indian-held Kashmir refused the prime minister’s invitation to New Delhi for the talks, saying the internal dialogue was fruitless without the presence of the armed groups and Pakistan.