NEW DELHI, Jan 2: The Pakistan High Commission is learnt to be in constant touch with Kashmiri separatist leaders though it is avoiding meetings in person, possibly in view of the Foreign Secretary level talks between the two countries slated for mid-January in Islamabad.
According to sources, the High Commission had this week made calls to pro-Pakistan separatist leader Asiya Andrabi, whose Islamic group Dukhtaran-e-Millat is a part of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference.
Andrabi had in March last year hoisted the Pakistan flag and sang the Pakistani national anthem. Later, she was booked for hoisting the flag on Pakistan?s national day in Srinagar.
Engaging separatist Kashmiri leaders ahead of any high-level bilateral dialogue has always been a source of discord between the two countries and had led to the cancellation of the meetings between NSAs and Foreign Secretaries in the past over a year.
However, this time, the High Commission is taking care not to make the process too obvious and has been avoiding any meetings in person in the run-up to the upcoming talks in Islamabad.
Sources said the High Commission refused a request for a meeting in person from a Hurriyat functionary recently.
”Engaging Kashmiri separatists is nothing new. This is part of the process that has been continuing for long. The centrality of the Kashmir issue in any dialogue between India and Pakistan cannot be avoided. The Kashmiris have to be taken on board in any resolution of the problem,” a source at the High Commission maintained.
The decision to hold Foreign Secretary-level meeting in Islamabad as part of the move to resume the peace dialogue process was announced by the two countries last month during External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Islamabad to take part in the ‘Heart of Asia’ conference. Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi?s surprise visit to Lahore on the Christmas day infused more confidence and certainty in the process. (UNI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel