New Delhi, June 3: Union home minister Rajnath Singh today stressed the need to involve "the people of Kashmir" and the Opposition in efforts to resolve the Kashmir problem, providing a hint of what he had earlier meant by a "permanent solution" but dodging a question on possible talks with the separatists.

The home minister's pronouncements were far more nuanced than those of the rest of the security and political establishment that had given the impression that the problem was being viewed solely through the military prism.

Army chief Bipin Rawat had earlier this week gone to the extent of saying he would have been happy if the youths throwing stones had used guns, suggesting a trigger-happy retaliatory policy.

Asked about the human shield "innovation" in Kashmir, Rajnath steered clear of a robust defence of the tactic, unlike some of his colleagues, but took care not to criticise the army.

On General Rawat's hawkish statements, too, Rajnath did not say anything that could be construed as criticism of the armed forces but gave a rounded reply shorn of jagged edges.

"God has not given us hands to throw stones. We want young Kashmiris to take part in the country's development. They are India's future. Our government is sensitive to the problems in Kashmir," he said.

Rajnath's statement on the options for a solution came against the backdrop of a controversy generated by his own choice of words - "permanent solution" - in which some had heard echoes of the Nazis' "final solution" that envisaged the extermination of Jews.

The Congress had asked Rajnath to explain what a "permanent solution" meant. Rajnath ostensibly did that today as he answered a reporter's question on whether the government favoured a military solution or a political one in Kashmir.

"Our government is working towards a comprehensive and integrated strategy to find a permanent solution to the problems in Kashmir. We will definitely take the people of Kashmir into confidence," he told a news conference called to highlight the achievements of the third anniversary of the Narendra Modi government.

He said the Centre was keen on drafting the Opposition parties into the effort.

"We are working for a permanent solution. I have said this with responsibility, after much thinking and deliberations. We have a few plans and will find a solid solution in future. It may take some time," Rajnath added.

Asked which sections of Kashmir's people the Centre would talk to, Rajnath declined to mention names, putting the onus on the stakeholders themselves to approach the government.

"Whoever is willing to talk development and peace, they are welcome. But I'm not taking any names," he said.

The separatists have repeatedly said they are not interested in talking only of development, insisting that any parleys with the government must go beyond the constitutional framework.

When The Telegraph specifically asked whether the government would adopt former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's approach and hold back-channel talks with the separatists, Rajnath ducked the question. "Yes, Vajpayeeji's government had held talks with them," was all he said.

He also evaded a question on an army major's act of tying a young Kashmiri to the front of his jeep as a human shield against stone-throwers during the April 9 parliamentary by-election in Srinagar.

"Do you condemn the human shield incident?" he was asked. There was a pause before Rajnath came out with a cryptic answer: " Samajhta hoon lekin bolta nahin hoon (I understand but I don't speak)."

Asked why he was avoiding a direct answer, he said: "At times there is also a third option to a question besides 'Yes' and 'No'."

The reporter reminded the minister: "But your colleague and urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu has supported the human shield incident...."

"He was not wrong," Rajnath said.

Rajnath had been the lone Union minister to speak out when Kashmiri students were attacked or threatened in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, asking all the chief ministers in April to ensure the safety of Kashmiris living in their states.

During the highly polarised Uttar Pradesh poll campaign earlier this year, Rajnath had been the only BJP senior to question the party's failure to field a single Muslim candidate.

Today, Rajnath said that all problems can be resolved through dialogue but cautioned: "The solution to the Kashmir problem cannot be found by just snapping our fingers. (The) Kashmir problem has been going on since 1947."

Asked whether the current turmoil was alarming, Rajnath said there had been such situations in the past too. "We will restore peace in the state by eradicating Pakistan-sponsored terrorism."

He said that militant infiltration from Pakistan had fallen by 45 per cent since India's "surgical strikes" on terror camps across the Line of Control on September 29 last year.

He underscored that India had the second-largest Muslim population in the world but the Islamic State had failed to gain a foothold here.

Rajnath was asked why, at a recent BSF event, he had reprimanded an IAS officer over an untied shoelace, BSF jawans for their failure to wear their caps, and some bureaucrats for arriving late. He merely smiled.

"Are you getting angry because of stress?" a reporter asked.

"I am the guardian..." Rajnath let the sentence remain unfinished.