Indian PM Narendra Modi has SLOTXO said his government plans to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir soon.
He told regional leaders in Delhi on Thursday that polls could be held after an exercise to redraw the boundaries of assembly seats was carried out.
This was the first such meeting since a controversial decision revoked the region's special status in 2019.
Relations between Delhi and the restive Muslim-majority Kashmir valley have worsened in recent years.
Mr Modi's government imposed direct rule in 2018 after his party's coalition with a local party broke up.
The region used to be a state, before being turned into a federally-administered territory in 2019. Local leaders reportedly told Mr Modi to restore statehood and hold elections.
Former chief ministers of the region, Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and several other leaders attended the meeting.
The ministers are part of an alliance known as the Jammu and Kashmir People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, a conglomerate of political parties critical of Delhi's aggressive and highly militarised role in the valley. The alliance won the largest number of seats in municipal elections last year.