Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said that a special officer has been appointed by the Centre to deal with and resolve the Kashmir issue.

Speaking to newsmen yesterday, Singh said that the Centre had planned to commence preliminary round of talks to resolve the long-pending Kashmir issue.  Dineshwar Sharma, a former chief of the Intelligence Bureau, has been appointed as the special officer in this regard to facilitate the negotiations.

“Sharma, a 1979 batch IPS officer, had served in the Bureau till recently and would personally make decisions on which leaders from Kashmir are to be invited to the negotiating table. The initiative to appoint Sharma is the corollary to the assurances made in the Independence Day speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Singh said.