With a bear hug a deal of historic importance has been sealed. Patron of the Peoples Democratic Party Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was greeted with a hug by prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning in New Delhi and gave a final approval to PDP-BJP alliance government in Jammu and Kashmir.

"We reached a common ground for government in J&K after two months," Sayeed, who will be the chief minister, told reporters after meeting Modi. The swearing-in ceremony will take place on March 1 and Modi will participate in the ceremony to be held at the Zorawar auditorium in Jammu.

The two ideological opposite parties are expected to govern the state on the basis of a common minimum programme. They took two months to thrash out their political and ideological differences.

The reality on the ground also dictated their alliance. "The BJP got votes in Jammu and we got votes in Kashmir. Both parties should come together,"Sayeed said. The BJP is expected to get the deputy chief minister's post.

The alliance announced on Tuesday had to overcome many hurdles. Two such issues were AFSPA (Armed Forces' Special Powers' Act) and the route through which Hurriyat could be included in the dialogue between Delhi and Srinagar.

PDP had insisted on the inclusion of Hurriyat in the dialogue as being part of the CMP. While the BJP is unwilling to compromise its position on AFSPA, it is learnt to have accepted the PDP leadership's demand to include Hurriyat as part of the peace dialogue.

Refusing to talk on contentious issues like Article 370 which gives special status to the state, Sayeed said, "I won't talk on the issues... it (CMP) will come in black and white and the entire public of the country will see what we are doing."