New Delhi: A day after videos of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval interacting with the locals of Kashmir and sharing a meal emerged; speaking on the same, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday said that “You can make anyone stand with you by paying them off”. The statement was made while Azad was interacting with media.

Speaking on the recent scrapping of Article 370, Azad said “We did not ask for the permission before visiting Jammu and Kashmir. I always visit Jammu and Kashmir after parliament sessions “he said.

Taking on the central government, he said “This government arbitrarily vanished a state from the map of India.  J&K was the largest state even before and after independence and that was the reason because of which Sardar Patel did not merge it with any other state; but today they separated it. This is very shameful. They destroyed the identity of a state”.




BJP slams Ghulam:

Hitting out at the senior Congress leader, BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain on Thursday said, "Such statements by opposition leaders give a boost to Pakistan, and then Pak uses that against India".


 Doval mingles with locals in Kashmir:

Doval on Wednesday undertook a whirlwind visit to the militancy-infested south Kashmir and assured the locals that their security is the government's responsibility.

Doval arrived in Kashmir on Tuesday, a day after the Centre revoked the provisions of Article 370, which gave special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir. He is reaching out to the local population in the Valley as a confidence building measure (CMB). "Everything will be alright. Your safety and security is our responsibility," Doval told people in Shopian district. An unprecedented security cover and several restrictions are in place in Kashmir. All modes of communication have been snapped in the Valley.

Doval was seen eating food on a footpath outside closed shops and talking to locals. He exchanged views with them on the security situation and the government's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 and bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories. "Your children and their children will continue to live here. They will make their name in the world," the NSA told people.

NSA Doval meets policemen in Kashmir:

He also met policemen in the area and praised their role in the containing the situation in the state for the past several years.

"Jammu and Kashmir Police is one of the best police forces. It has a special place for us," Doval told the policemen.
Later, videos of Doval, flanked by director general of police, Jammu and Kashmir, Dilbagh Singh, interacting with locals and policemen went viral on social media.