Pakistan high commissioner in New Delhi Abdul Basit has invited India-occupied Kashmir’s Hurriyat leaders for consultations ahead of the India-Pakistan foreign secretary-level meeting in Islamabad on August 25.
Pakistan high commissioner in New Delhi Abdul Basit has invited India-occupied Kashmir's Hurriyat leaders for consultations ahead of the India-Pakistan foreign secretary-level meeting in Islamabad on August 25.
Hurriyat conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has been invited by the Pakistan envoy to come to New Delhi on August 19.
India called off peace talks with Pakistan, giving a jolt to renewed diplomatic efforts between the two nuclear-armed neighbors and adding to the troubles of Pakistan's beleaguered government.
The move came nearly three months after Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended the inauguration of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the pair shaking hands in a gesture that had raised hopes of warmer ties between the two nations.
India said it would not attend talks involving the foreign secretaries of the two countries, which had been set to take place on Aug. 25 in Islamabad, because of plans by Pakistan to consult Kashmiri independence leaders ahead of the meeting.
India's foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin called the invite an "unacceptable" attempt to "interfere" in domestic affairs, adding that the talks had been "cancelled".
Pakistan deplored India's move, calling it a "setback" in efforts to promote good neighbourly relations.
Government sources said it was usual for visiting Pakistan leaders and its envoy to meet the Kashmiri leaders especially ahead of key talks. Pakistan's foreign and national security adviser Sartaz Aziz met them during his visit here last November.
The Himalayan region of Kashmir has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan since both gained independence in 1947.
The two nations have fought three wars and came close to a fourth war in 2001 and there have been regular clashes on the heavily militarized Line of Control that divides Indian- and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
