IANS
NEW DELHI, MARCH 23
A day after Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Omar Farooq met Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit here, India on Monday made it clear that there was no place for any third party while dealing with issues with Islamabad. External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said the only way forward vis-a-vis Pakistan was a peaceful bilateral dialogue.He was answering a query about remarks of Basit in which the Pakistan envoy apparently said the Indian government was not objecting to his meetings with Hurriyat leaders.
Basit on Sunday met Farooq, the leader of moderate section of Hurriyat. He earlier met Hurriyat hardline leader Syed Ali Geelani. Speaking on the sidelines of Pakistan national day event here, Basit on Monday urged the media not to make issue of a non-issue. However, Akbaruddin said there should be no scope of misunderstanding about India's stance on resolving outstanding issues with Pakistan.
"Having repeated it on so many occasions, there should be no scope for misunderstanding or misrepresenting India's position on the role of the so-called Hurriyat," he said.
Trying to help India, Pak: Kashmiri separatist leaders
PTI
NEW DELHI, MARCH 23
Justifying their consultations with Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit here, Kashmiri separatist leaders today said they were trying to assist India and Pakistan in resolving the “complex” issue of Kashmir which needed a political approach.They also downplayed Basit’s invitation to them for attending Pakistan’s National Day celebrations.
Chairman of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who met Basit yesterday, said the “complex” Kashmir issue needed a “political approach”. “Hurriyat’s main agenda is that stakeholders involved -- India, Pakistan and Kashmiris -- will have to move together to solve the problem.... It is the only way out to avoid killing of innocent civilians and army men and other destruction.
“They (the stakeholders) have to find a solution to the problem. All of us understand one fact that there cannot be a military solution and there can be no solution through violence. So, how do we move forward? We try to engage with everyone,” he said while wondering why his meeting Basit was being portrayed negatively. Echoing similar sentiments, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chief Yasin Malik said he has been attending the Pakistan National Day celebrations over the past 22 years.
“I am here just to attend the function as so many other people here will be... Indian politicians, Indian journalists will be there. It’s a function I am attending for the last 22 years,” he said. The Mirwaiz along with Abdul Gani Bhat, Maulana Abbas Ansari, Bilal Gani Lone, Aga Syed Hassan, Mussadiq Adil and Mukhtar Ahmad Waza had gone to Basit’s residence yesterday night for talks.
India had called off foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan last year after Basit held consultations with Hurriyat leaders on the eve of the official talks. This meeting comes a fortnight after Basit had gone to the Delhi residence of hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and updated him about the visit of Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar to Islamabad and issues discussed during his meetings there.
India today said there was “no scope for misunderstanding or misrepresenting” its position on the role of the so called Hurriyat in Indo-Pak ties, making it clear that there was no place for a third party.
Hitting out at Pakistan for the statement that India has no objection to invitation to Hurriyat leaders to its National Day celebrations here, Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry Syed Akbaruddin said, “The Government of India prefers to speak for itself”.
“Having repeated it on so many occasions there should be no scope for misunderstanding or misrepresenting India’s position on the role of the so called Hurriyat.
“Let me reiterate there are only two parties and there is no place for a third party in resolution of India-Pakistan issues.
The only way forward to proceed on all outstanding issues is a peaceful bilateral dialogue within the framework of Simla Agreement and Lahore Declaration,” the MEA Spokesperson said.
Earlier, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit, on the sidelines of an event to mark the Day, said India was not against it inviting the Kashmiri separatist leaders.
“I don’t think Indian government is objecting. I would rather suggest my media friends not to make an issue out of a non-issue,” Basit said.
