Vajpayee to visit Srinagar

Observing that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir had changed after the 'free and fair' assembly polls, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Friday said he would visit Srinagar later this month.

"I had gone to Srinagar a few months back. I am going again later this month. The atmosphere there is changing," he said in his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort amid heavy downpour.

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Recalling that he had announced free and fair elections in the state in his Independence Day speech last year, Vajpayee said, "But nobody believed at that time. We have fulfilled the promise."

He said free and fair polls had again demonstrated that Jammu and Kashmir was a part of India and the people wanted to remain with it.

Those talking of self-determination want to communalise the situation in India, he said.

The prime minister said the government is determined to rehabilitate the displaced people from the state.

A record 100,000 people visited the valley this year and more than 6,000 students from different parts of the country were studying in J&K, he said.