NEW DELHI, Mar 24:
Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit today continued holding consultations for the third consecutive day with separatist leaders from Jammu and Kashmir during which he sought their help for building an environment of peace in the sub-continent.
The first delegation was led by former chairman of moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference Abdul Gani Bhat which was followed by a team of hardline Hurriyat led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
After his hour-long meeting, Bhat said that it is important for peace in India and Pakistan that there should be friendship between the two countries.
“We are with any such move that forges a new era of friendship between two neighbours of the South Asia. We have to understand that dialogue is the only way to move forward,” he said.
A professor of Persian language, Bhat said every Indian and Pakistani citizen was in favour of friendship between the two countries as this will not benefit this region only but the entire world.
“He (Basit) told us that both the countries were moving towards resolution of all outstanding issues including Kashmir,” Bhat said, adding “he sought help from Hurriyat Conference in contributing towards building an environment for that.”
He regretted controversies created over the meetings between separatists and the Pakistani High Commissioner saying “I wonder why are some people seeing red. I pray that they should get the sense of urgency of having a good relations between the neighbouring countries.”
The media criticism of Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh’s presence at the Pakistan High Commission reception yesterday has no basis, Bhat said and advised media to contribute in peace rather than become an obstacle.
As for Hurriyat Conference, it is also a constituent and representing an opinion of people of Kashmir and “we will be happy talking to India as well as Pakistan.
“When the two sovereign nations will sit across the table, all issues including Kashmir will go together. In case any country shies away from the Kashmir issue, we may be talking peace but we don’t mean peace then,” Bhat, who was accompanied by Aga Sayeed Hassan Budgami and Mukhtar Waza, said.
Later, Geelani held a separate one-to-one meeting with Basit which was followed by delegation level talks in which his spokesman Ayaz Akbar, son-in-law Altaf Shah and Bashir Ahmed participated for nearly two hours. (PTI)
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