Indian PM invites Kashmir leaders for Talks
Pakistan Times Kashmir Desk

NEW DELHI (India): Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited Kashmir's main political alliance on Wednesday for talks to resume a dialogue stalled for a year, and the leaders of the India held-part of the Himalayan State are reported to have accepted his invitation.

The talks are scheduled to be held next week, ahead of a meeting between Singh and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in New York on September-14 to push forward a slow peace process between the nuclear rivals who both claim Kashmir.

"The prime minister has invited the Hurriyat Conference, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, for talks on September 5 in New Delhi," said Singh's spokesman, Sanjaya Baru, without giving further details.

Farooq, who heads the moderate faction of the Hurriyat, said the panel had accepted Singh's invitation. A hardline faction which favors integration of Kashmir with Pakistan has not been invited.

"We have received an invitation and, in principle, have accepted the invitation," Farooq said in Srinagar.

"Both India and Pakistan do realize that the time has come to settle all issues, including Kashmir, in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Kashmir," Farooq told the NDTV television channel.

The Hurriyat's policy-making executive council will meet on Thursday to finalize its stand at the talks, he said.

Analysts said by inviting leaders of the moderate faction of the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, Singh was sending a message that "he was keeping Kashmiri interests in mind"

"The Hurriyat will be established as the de facto bridge and representative of Kashmiri interests in the ongoing discussions between India and Pakistan," New Delhi-based foreign policy commentator Prem Shankar Jha said.

Hurriyat had suspended talks with New Delhi in August 2004 after the government insisted the dialogue would have to be held within the bounds of the Indian constitution, which says Kashmir is an "integral" part of India.

Recap

But as the India-Pakistan peace process nudged ahead, a Hurriyat team visited Azad Kashmir and Pakistan in June where members met President Musharraf, who has been keen for Hurriyat to be part of the peace process.

But the hardline Hurriyat faction stayed home.

India and Pakistan have made little progress over their core dispute of Kashmir although trade, commercial, sporting and transport links have improved since ties began to warm to some extent in 2003.

Top diplomats from both countries meet in Islamabad on Thursday for three-day talks to prepare the ground for the Singh-Musharraf meeting in New York.●