Distancing itself from the delegation led by senior party leader Yashwant Sinha that met separatist leaders in Kashmir on Tuesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it was Sinha's personal initiative and the party had nothing to do with it.
"The BJP has nothing to do with this initiative. It was Yashwant Sinhaji's personal initiative and he has himself made it clear," BJP spokesman Shrikant Sharma said.
Asked if the BJP agreed with Sinha's views, Sharma repeated that it was the senior leader's personal move and the party had nothing to comment.
A five-member team led by Sinha on Tuesday met separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in Srinagar in an attempt to break a stalemate after over three months of deadly unrest in the Kashmir Valley.
The team, which includes former bureaucrat Wajahat Habibullah, who has served in Jammu and Kashmir, ex-Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak, journalist Bharat Bhushan and activist Sushobha Barve, landed in Srinagar on Tuesday and drove to Geelani's residence in Hyderpora.
Geelani, who heads the hardline faction of the separatist Hurriyat Conference, agreed to meet and talk to the delegation.
The senior separatist leader had refused to open the door to an all-party delegation that had gone to meet him last month.
--IANS
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