DHAKA: Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is set to expand his council of ministers to include a key leader from the restive Kashmir region, sources said, as he looks to win the support of allies to push economic reforms through parliament.

Mehbooba Mufti, daughter of Jammu and Kashmir state’s chief minister and president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which governs in the region alongside Modi’s party, will be inducted into the 65-member council, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, reports The Straits Times.

Modi is expected to announce the changes, his second reshuffle of the executive body since he stormed to power last May, before he departs for an overseas trip on April 8, the sources said.

His Bharatiya Janata Party made history in February when it formed a surprise coalition in Jammu and Kashmir with the PDP, the first time the Hindu nationalist party has had a role in governing the Muslim-majority state that is the centre of a long-running revolt against Indian rule.

BDST: 1637 HRS, APR 04, 2015