NEW DELHI: Former chief of India’s external intelligence agency RAW and an old hand on Kashmir, A S Dulat, has said his recent travel to the Valley was a guided mission to approach former chief minister of J&K and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah , with concurrence from National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the Prime Minister’s Office.Within a month of Dulat’s secret mission to Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah’s detention order under the stringent Public Safety Act was revoked by the government on March 13. The NC functionary’s release is seen in political circles as something that could be a precursor to resumption of a broad-based political process in the UT that has remained under lockdown much of the six months ever since Article 370 of the Constitution was nullified on August 5 last year.In an interview to journalist Karan Thapar , Dulat said when he met Abdullah in Srinagar , he found the former CM “tired and certainly not looking his best”.The former CM stressed that he is fully committed to India and had brought up his children in the same way.Dulat said when he first contacted the home ministry for “meeting” Farooq Abdullah sometime in November last year, there was no clearance. However, on February 9, he received a phone call from the home ministry saying he could go to Kashmir if he so wished, the former RAW head said.He told Thapar that the clearance from the home ministry “would have happened with the knowledge and concurrence of NSA Doval and this means the NSA was fully in the loop”.He said though his visit to Srinagar was a private one, the IB in Srinagar provided transport to take him from the airport to Abdullah’s residence and back to the airport during his visit to the Valley. He said that shortly after his return, he was rung by the home ministry to find out how the trip had gone.Dulat said he spoke to Abdullah again after revocation of his detention and the latter told him he would visit the national Capital in 15 days and by then the Budget session is likely to end. He also said Abdullah was recently operated for cataract in both his eyes.