Pak invites Kashmiri separatists for talks ahead of NSA meet

PTI
SRINAGAR, AUGUST 19

In yet another provocative act, Pakistan High Commission has called hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani for a meeting with Pakistan’s NSA Sartaj Aziz and invited moderate separatist Kashmiri leaders, including its Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq for a reception.
Geelani has been called for a meeting on August 24 with Aziz, who will be here for talks with Indian NSA Ajit Doval, while moderate separatist leaders have been invited for a reception being hosted by the High Commission in New Delhi for the visiting Pakistani official on August 23.Aziz is expected to arrive in New Delhi on August 23 for the talks.
Geelani, the leader of hardline faction of Hurriyat who had boycotted the Eid Milan programme hosted by the High Commissioner Abdul Basit last month, will be travelling to Delhi for the meeting.
“Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been invited for talks with Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz. He will be travelling for the meeting,” spokesman of his Hurriyat Ayaz Akbar told PTI.
Geelani had boycotted the Eid Milan programme on July 21 in protest against non-inclusion of Kashmir in the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Ufa, Russia, on July 10.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told PTI that he along with other leaders would be attending the reception being hosted for Aziz and urged political parties, especially the Congress, not to politicise the issue of his attending a function at the High Commission.
In August last year, India had cancelled Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan after its envoy invited separatist leaders for consultations ahead of the meeting in Islamabad.
After a call from the Pakistan High Commission, the moderate Hurriyat Conference held an emergency executive meeting here today after which it was decided to attend the function.
“At the outset, we request both India and Pakistan to put an end to the hostilities along the Line of Control and ensure a complete ceasefire.
Only innocent people are becoming victims of the tension along the border,” the Mirwaiz said.
Welcoming the statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Dubai recently that all issues needed to be resolved through talks, the Mirwaiz said, “we lost an opportunity last year and I hope that the opportunity is not lost again.”
He urged political parties not to politicise the issue, saying “there are many other issues on which browny points could be scored. Politicising this issue will amount to closing down a possible window of peace in South Asia.”
JKLF leader Yasin Malik was yet to decide on whether to accept the invitation for attending the reception or not. “We will take a decision soon,” he said.
Aziz will be visiting India for talks with Doval next week on terrorism-related issues. The decision to hold the NSA-level talks was taken during meeting between Modi and Sharif in Ufa.