Srinagar: Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani today said that the Indo-Pak dialogue can be “successful” only when both the sides discuss the Kashmir issue as per the wishes and aspirations of its people.
“The basic issue between India and Pakistan is the Kashmir dispute. Until this dispute is solved according to the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people, the dialogue between the two neighbours will prove futile …Nothing concrete can be expected from these talks,” Geelani said in a statement.
He said India and Pakistan have held 150 rounds of talks so far but “all these dialogues have yielded nothing …Nor did it improve the relation between the two nations”.
The Hurriyat hawk said the Pakistani Prime Minister had hinted towards the dialogue with India without pre-conditions at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) with his British counterpart David Cameron.
“He (Sharif) had said that no person can be averse to talks and all the issues and disputes are at last solved on tables.
“But the history of dialogues between India and Pakistan had not been so good and the issues between the two nations at the time of partition still stand unresolved in 2015,” he said.
Geelani reiterated that all the hurdles between the two nations are basically the offshoots of the Kashmir issue.
“Kashmir is not only a border dispute between the two nations but it is the issue of the future — life and death — of more than 15 million people,” he said.