Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde Monday sought to counter BJP's criticism of the UPA government for allowing Kashmiri separatists to meet Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's advisor Sartaj Aziz here Sunday and said such meetings had also taken place when the NDA government was in power.
"Such meetings have taken place earlier. They met in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004. Those who are criticising us, it happened in their time also. There has been precedence. We will see what is to be done in future," Shinde said.
Leader of moderate faction of Hurriyat Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, JKLF chief Yaseen Malik, and hardline Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani were among those who met Aziz.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh had said the central government had committed a "diplomatic blunder" by allowing Kashmiri separatists to meet Aziz.
Aziz arrived in New Delhi Sunday to attend the Asia-Europe Meeting.
