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PM to hold talks with JKLF chief today
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold talks with JKLF Chief Yaseen Malik and general secretary Ghulam Rasool Dar on Friday.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold talks with JKLF Chief Yaseen Malik and general secretary Ghulam Rasool Dar on Friday.
Malik is the second leader after Peoples Conference's Sajjad Lone to have been invited by the Prime Minister for talks on the Kashmir issue. Lone had held the talks with Singh last month.
The JKLF chief has been maintaining a low profile since infighting erupted in the separatist conglomerate Hurriyat Conference over its control.
Malik remained away from both -- Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani groups.
The Centre has made it clear that it would hold talks with a cross-section of separatist leaders from the state. The Prime Minister had kicked off the exercise by holding talks with a delegation of Hurriyat Conference on September 5 last year.
A meeting of the advisory council and working committee, the highest decision making bodies of JKLF, had on Wednesday nominated Malik and Ghulam Rasool Dar for consultations with the Prime Minister.
Both the leaders arrived in the capital late on Wednesday night.
The Centre is also likely to call other separatist leaders outside Hurriyat, including Shabir Shah. JKDLF leader Hashim Qureshi could also be called for talks.
Malik on Wednesday said he was in favour of initiation of a 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.
