Rajnath Singh had been leading the central government's efforts to bring back normalcy in Kashmir.
With the situation in Jammu and Kashmir remaining tense, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has postponed his visit to the United States to attend the Indo-US Homeland Security Dialogue scheduled for next week.
A Home Ministry official cited the busy schedule during the coming Monsoon session of Parliament beginning July 18 as the reason for the deferment of the visit.
However, tension in Kashmir Valley in the wake of killing of Hizbul Mujahedeen terrorist Burhan Wani could be the other key factor for the postponement of the Home Minister's five-day visit to America, sources told news agency PTI.
New dates have not been finalised yet, but the trip may now take place sometime in September, the official told PTI.
The Home Minister, who is responsible for the internal security of the country, had been leading the central government's efforts to bring back normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir till Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned from his official visit this morning. 24 people have died ever since violent protests started following terrorist Burhan Wani's death.
Mr Singh has held a series of meetings with top Union Ministers, officials and reached out to opposition leaders like Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah.
The Home Minister was supposed to lead the Indian delegation at the Indo-US Homeland Security Dialogue to be held in Washington with the US team to be headed by Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Charles Johnson.
Further cementing anti-terror cooperation, real-time sharing of intelligence inputs, cyber security and critical infrastructure protection, countering illicit finance, global supply chain security, megacity policing and science and technology are some of the other key issues that were planned to be discussed at the strategic meeting.
This senior-level exchange between India and the United States is part of the strategic homeland security partnership and aimed at enhancing operational cooperation in investigations, capacity building, and countering threats.