PM, Hurriyat talks today

All eyes will be on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and All-Party Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq when they go in for talks tomorrow, for the first time since the United Progressive Alliance government came to power.

With the Hurriyat having achieved considerable consolidation of moderate opinion in Kashmir (a Shia group broke away from the Syed Ali Shah Gilani-led faction of the Hurriyat to join Mirwaiz in the talks with the Prime Minister), the first step will be taken tomorrow to address politically, the issue of separatism in Jammu and Kashmir.

A proponent of a trilateral dialogue on Kashmir (one that includes Pakistan), Gilani is not joining the talks. Gilani insists that talks should be held with India only after it recognises Kashmir as a "dispute".

Without commenting on this, a spokesman of the Pakistan foreign office said last week Islamabad hoped the meeting of APHC leaders with the Indian leadership next week would strengthen the ongoing peace process.

"The government of Pakistan has always been of the view that the Kashmiri leadership should be associated with the dialogue process between Pakistan and India for a final settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute," the spokesman said.

Pakistan has been saying consistently that for movement in the peace process, India has to demonstrate that there is movement on the "dispute" over Kashmir.

Ten days ahead of the Musharraf-Manmohan summit in New York, during the United Nations General Assembly, Singh will presumably tell Musharraf that talks with Kashmiris have started.

The CPI(M) added its voice to the discussion on Kashmir prior to the Hurriyat meeting. Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI(M), and Mohd Yusuf Tarigami, member of the party's central committee, met the Prime Minister on Friday to convey the party's views on the Kashmir situation.

They told the Prime Minister that they welcomed the invitation to the Hurriyat and suggested that the resolution on autonomy passed by the J&K Assembly in 2000 could be considered a basis for talks with those concerned with it.

"While the security forces are working in a difficult situation, it is important that at this stage, care is taken to avoid any excesses and human rights violations," the CPI(M) said.