Not averse to Indo-Pak dialogue: Geelani

Srinagar: Hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani today said while he was not averse to Indo-Pak dialogue, one must not forget that since 1947 more than 150 rounds of talks have taken place but there has been no dramatic change in bilateral ties.

It will be wise to first look at the causes of failures of the talks which have been going on for the past six decades and serious efforts should be made to address those causes which are creating problems in establishing trust and cordial relationship, Geelani said, while reacting to the NSA-level talks between India and Pakistan in Bangkok yesterday.

He said until India and Pakistan take bold steps in resolving the Kashmir issue, “we can neither expect any breakthrough from the talks in future nor can it bring any considerable change in the mutual relationship of the two countries”.

He said the leadership of India and Pakistan should not forget that since 1947, more than 150 rounds of talks have taken place in which many two-way agreements have been made but there has been no dramatic change in bilateral relations.

At one moment, they talk of friendship and peace and at the very next moment they train guns at each other and talk about war and hatred, Geelani said.

In a sudden breakthrough in the stalled Indo-Pak dialogue, the National Security Advisors of the two countries met for four hours in Bangkok yesterday and discussed terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, and other bilateral issues and agreed to take forward the “constructive” engagement.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Nasir Janjua, their foreign secretaries S Jaishankar and Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry held their marathon meeting in the Thai capital, barely six days after Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif held a brief meeting in Paris obviously with a view to revive the stalled dialogue process.