Besides Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and top officials from the Planning Commission, BSF, Rashtriya Rifles and other security agencies will participate in the brain-storming session.

Concerned over the Kashmir incidents, the Congress today fired a salvo at the Government. Rajesh Pilot said if the Government failed to take corrective measures, the situation in the state would revert to the 1990-91 stage. "The artificial statements of the Centre and the state on Kashmir are keeping the nation in the dark," he toldThe Indian Express. North Block officials admit that the two latest incidents militants blasting their way through a heavily fortified Army camp in Srinagar and the explosion in the Pooja Express near Jammu have boosted the morale of "the other side." As such, the action plan for J&K needs to be overhauled drastically, it is argued.

Another area of concern for New Delhi is the coordination (or the lack of it) between the Army and the BSF in Kashmir. While all the major towns including Srinagar, Baramulla, Sopore and Anantnag are directly controlled by the BSF, the Army has its say in and around the border and the suburban towns.

With over one-third of its 167-odd battalions permanently stationed in Kashmir, senior BSF officials say their hands are full and no more men can be sent to the state. "In this situation, we are not in a position to withdraw forces from other sensitive spots like Assam, Tripura, Rajasthan border and areas in West Bengal bordering Bangladesh," said one of them.While afew observers claim that both the Army and the BSF often behave like pampered kids in the troubled state, they all agree on the need to strengthen the J&K armed police and pull it out of its present slumber. One of the important points on the agenda of the meeting will be modernisation of the police force and the CRPF -- the two work in tandem in the state -- by providing them with state-of-the-art weaponry.

At the same time, New Delhi is waiting with trepidation for yet another attempt by Farooq to demand more grants and funds for the state. Planning Commission Chairman K C Pant, it is learnt, has been roped in for this meeting to give concrete proposals for the next state budget that would roll down by next March. Apparently, New Delhi's previous advice to Abdullah to create new taxes has brought some respite to J&K but it was not sufficient to bring it out of the woods.

Also weighing heavily on the decision-makers' mind in the North Block are the developments in Pakistan -- triggered by Nawaj Sharif'souster -- that have given fresh teeth to the militants. "If the signals are anything to go by," remarked a Kashmir watcher, "we are in for another round of mindless violence in the state."

Pilot lamented that although he had raised the Kashmir issue in a call attention motion in the Lok Sabha during its previous session "and had in fact provided figures to the Home Ministry," nothing came out of it. He says he's acutely worried over the changing ratio of casualties between the militants and the security men. "Earlier," he claimed, "one security personnel would die for five militants. But now, one of our men is getting killed as against thre e on their side."

With Advani taking a personal interest in the outcome of Wednesday's meeting -- it would be his first after the formation of the new Government -- the North Block brass is already in a tizzy. Fishing out documents and reworking the state action plan is uppermost on its agenda. It's another matter though that the snow in the high passes of Kashmir isstill a few months away from melting.