New Delhi: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram Friday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to de-escalate tensions with Pakistan and diffuse the crisis situation in the Kashmir Valley while trying to win hearts and minds of the people. Speaking at the India Today conclave here, he said Modi and BJP leaders and ministers should not try to take credit for the act of the Indian Air Force, which the opposition and the country have lauded.

"Going forward, Mr Modi either by his inner counsel or by consulting the opposition parties, adopt a strategy that will diffuse tensions with Pakistan and bring some kind of reassurance to the people of the Kashmir valley. These are two separate objectives that have to be addressed," he said. "Calm the people of the Kashmir valley and reassure them that their interests will be protected," he said. The former Union minister said the Congress was among the first to congratulate the IAF for the air strikes and after that it and other parties behaved in an exemplary manner.