Modi holds meet as Kashmir violence toll rises to 30

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting today to take stock of the ongoing violence in Kashmir, soon after returning from his four-nation Africa tour.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, meanwhile, has cancelled his visit to the United States in view of the Kashmir situation. He was to attend the Indo-US Homeland Security Dialogue.

The meeting was attended by senior members of the cabinet including home minister Rajnath Singh, finance minister Arun Jaitley external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and defence minister Manohar Parrikar.

On Monday, home minister Singh reached out to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah and discussed solutions to the ongoing unrest.

Singh also held a meeting earlier in the day with senior officials of the home ninistry and security agencies and directed them to take measures to ensure swift return of normalcy.

An additional 800 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were rushed to Kashmir as reinforcements for the 1,200 CRPF personnel sent earlier to assist the state administration.

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who was with Prime Minister Modi on his Africa trip, cut short his visit and returned to the national capital on Monday.

''If there are problems, there are solutions. We are quite confident and competent of finding solutions,'' Doval told PTI.

He attended a meeting chaired by Rajnath Singh and attended by the finance minister, defence minister and minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh.

The Kashmir Valley is seeing protests after security forces killed Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani last week. The death toll has risen to 30, including one police official.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) PM has asked the government to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the unrest.

''The administration should desist from using excessive force against the protesters … those responsible for killing innocent unarmed protesters must be identified and punished,'' the party said in a statement.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday expressed concern over the situation in Kashmir amid rising tensions in the valley following the killing of Wani.

Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that the UN Chief has noted with concern the situation unfolding in Kashmir.