Kashmiri separatists to meet Pakistan foreign secretary
By IANSTuesday, February 23, 2010
NEW DELHI - They may have refused to talk to Home Minister P. Chidambaram, but Kashmiri separatist leaders are all set to meet Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir here Wednesday.
Bashir is expected to meet leaders of the two factions of the separatist Hurriyat Conference and others at a luxury hotel around 6 p.m. Wednesday, shortly after his arrival in the capital for talks with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao on Thursday.
Hurriyat leaders, including chief of the moderate faction Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and hardline group head Syed Ali Geelani, are already in the capital. Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik has also been invited but his participation is not confirmed.
Accompanying the Mirwaiz are Abdul Ghani Bhat, Aga Syed Hassan and Bilal Gani Lone.
We will brief Salman Bashir about the prevailing situation in Kashmir and also about the human rights violations, the Mirwaiz told IANS.
We have been demanding and will continue to demand that Kashmiris be included in the dialogue process and only the issue of Kashmir topping the agenda between India-Pakistan talks, he said.
Sources told IANS that the separatist leaders were sounded out by the Pakistan high commission through Deputy High Commissioner Rifat Masood and the meeting was confirmed by the Mirwaiz in Srinagar three days ago.
Pro-Pakistan Geelani has been in Delhi for medical treatment. His spokesperson said Geelani would stress the need for a tripartite dialogue on the Kashmir issue.
We have rejected bilateral talks with New Delhi as such efforts serve no purpose, he said.
The separatists’ meeting with the Pakistan diplomat comes against the backdrop of both Hurriyat factions refusing to talk to the Indian government.
Home Minister Chidambaram had invited the separatists for “quiet diplomacy”, which had initially been accepted by the Mirwaiz but was opposed bitterly by Geelani.
However, now the Mirwaiz has also backed out of talks with Chidambaram.
Indian concerns about militant groups based in Pakistan would form the main focus of Nirupama Rao’s talks with the Pakistani foreign secretary.
