JKLF chief to meet PM for talks on Feb 17

Yasin Malik said he was in favour of initiation of Nagaland-type dialogue with Kashmiris.

A two-member team of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front led by its Chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on February 17.

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Announcing this at the end of a marathon meeting of highest decision making bodies of the front, advisory council and working committee, Malik said he and JKLF general secretary Ghulam Rasool Dar alias Edi are going for consultations with the Prime Minister.

Briefing reporters about the meeting of working committee and advisory council and consultations he had with party colleagues abroad after receiving the invitation for the talks, Malik said that he would not be a part of a dialogue process aimed at "photo opportunity".

"The JKLF wanted a place for Kashmiris in the decision-making dialogue process (between India and Pakistan) and not for a photo opportunity," he said.

"We want restoration of the status of a party (to Kashmir issue) for Kashmiris. Kashmiris are the masters of Kashmir and they alone can decide their future," he said.

Malik said he was in favour of initiation of Nagaland-type dialogue with Kashmiris. The talks were held in a third country between representatives of NSCN(IM) and the government and there was no discussion with the State Chief Minister, he said.

Malik said he was not in favour of his party alone holding talks with New Delhi but wanted all parties with different ideologies which have the confidence of "resistant forces" to enter into dialogue collectively with the government.