[N'Djamena]

Indian PM to hold talks with Kashmir leaders, separatists
1 hour, 24 minutes ago



Indian Premier Manmohan Singh will hold a roundtable conference with Kashmiri leaders and separatists in a fresh bid to resolve the decades-old dispute over the region, his office said.

"The prime minister is going to hold a roundtable conference with Kashmir leaders," an official from Singh's office said on Wednesday.

A list of around 50 people, including representatives of main Kashmiri political parties and separatist organisations, has been drawn up for invitations to the talks, the Hindustan Times said, quoting government sources.

No specific agenda had been set for the meeting February 24 in the Indian capital.

The talks would mark the first time Kashmiri political leaders, separatists and the Indian government would sit at the same table since the outbreak of an anti-Indian Islamic insurgency in Kashmir in 1989, the paper said.

"The PM wants to hear from all the participants with an open mind," it quoted a government source as saying. "He is keen to seek cooperation from all the invitees for a return to normalcy."

Singh is due to meet with pro-independence separatist leader Yasin Malik on Friday and last month held talks with another separatist, Saajad Lone.

Malik said Wednesday it would be wrong to describe the meetings between the prime minister and Kashmiri groups as a "dialogue process," saying it would be a "betrayal" of those killed fighting New Delhi's rule and their families.

"It would create more confusion as more than 60 or 70 roadmaps for resolution of the Kashmir issue would emerge," he said.

"If India is confused about who from Kashmir should be invited to the negotiation table with Pakistan, the best solution lies in a referendum for leadership," said Malik.

Malik is a former militant whose political organisation has repeatedly called for a boycott of all India-organised elections in Kashmir.

The series of talks follow Singh's decision to meet all leaders and separatists from the Indian Kashmir, where some 44,000 lives have been lost since the start of the insurgency.

India accuses Pakistan of helping the insurgency in Kashmir, which has triggered two of their three wars since 1947.

Pakistan denies the charge but admits extending moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris waging what it terms a "freedom struggle".

India and Pakistan both claim the scenic Himalayan region in full but administer it in part.

Kashmiri separatists -- whose demands range from independence to merger with Pakistan -- have been demanding tripartite talks involving India, Pakistan and the "true representatives" of the Kashmiri people.

In September, Singh held his first direct talks with a moderate faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, the main umbrella body grouping the Kashmiri separatists.

The talks followed a visit by some of its members to Pakistan in June.

A hardline Hurriyat splinter group has rejected any dialogue with New Delhi.

Source