Srinagar, July 18: In a major turnaround, the separatist All Party Hurriyat Conference on Saturday said that it is open to talks with New Delhi for the settlement of the vexed Kashmir issue.
However, the separatist organisation said that it will talk only to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Talking to reporters, senior Hurriyat leader Abbas Ansari said, “We will talk only with the PM.”
The Hurriyat statement comes in the wake of Home Minister P Chidambaram calling for talks in a television interview. Replying to a query on the initiation of a political dialogue for resolving the Kashmir issue, Chidambaram said that Hurriyat is not an entity and added that there are likes of Mirwaiz Farooq and Shabbir Shah. He further said that a set of separatists have been identified for talks.
The separatists’ move assumes significance as it comes close on the heels of massive anti-India protests and strikes called by Hurriyat and other such groups.
The move can also be seen as a desperate measure on the part of the separatists to get into the thick of things as they are increasingly isolated in the Valley as was evident during the Assembly elections when people ignored the Hurriyat’s call for a poll boycott.
Meanwhile, separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq urged visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday to push nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan to resolve their dispute over Kashmir.
“Kashmir is not a religious issue, it is not an issue of terrorism or extremism, it is a political dispute and the United States has a role to push both India and Pakistan to settle this political dispute,” Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said in a statement.
His comments came as Clinton kicked off her Indian visit in Mumbai, scene of the attacks last year by militant gunmen that killed 166 people.
India has accused Pakistan of harbouring extremists who allegedly trained, equipped and financed the militants.
After the attacks, India suspended a peace dialogue with Pakistan that, among other issues, sought a resolution of the Kashmir conflict that has dominated bilateral relations since the division of the sub-continent in 1947.
Peace in South Asia cannot be achieved “without a resolution of core issue of Kashmir,” Mirwaiz said.
—-Agencies