Hurryiat leader Shabir Shah arrested in New Delhi

Ahead of Pak-India dialogues on August 23, India said on 21 that it has requested Pakistan to avoid meeting Hurriyat leaders. He would much rather be known as the tough Indian PM who showed the separatist Hurriyat leaders their place. Pakistan, however, insists that Aziz plans to pursue the “broad understanding” reached at Ufa, which included a commitment by both countries to discuss “all outstanding issues“.

Sources also said that Pakistan did not convey any “pre-conditions” and in fact communicated that India should not impose any preconditions. However, regrettably, the Indian side’s desire to restrict the agenda to terrorism related issues only amounts to a negation of the decisions taken by the two Prime Ministers, it added.

“The statement by the Government of Pakistan today on the NSA level talks with India does not come as a surprise”.

India declared on Friday that “unilateral imposition of new conditions and distortion of the agreed agenda can not be the basis for going forward” with the NSA level talks with Pakistan but stopped short of calling off the dialogue.

Pakistan has cancelled a conference of lawmakers from Commonwealth countries after a feud with India over Kashmir.

The government here is not surprised by Pakistan’s position on talks between the two top security advisers, going by its action following the outcome in Ufa.

“The talks must go on to subside the pressure on both sides of the Line of Control”, he added.

Meanwhile, some separatist leaders travelling to New Delhi were briefly detained in Srinagar and then released a few hours later.

However, a senior Indian police official told Anadolu Agency: “Only someone naive can believe that a police official or a bunch of them can arrest the entire resistance leadership on their own when the whole fate of the Indo-Pak talks hinges on them”. Pakistan knows that talks will not persuade India to let go of Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi is aware that talking to any one of Pakistan’s multiple power centres is fruitless.

Hurriyat hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and “moderate” Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Shabbir Ahmed Shah are among the invitees.

The Pakistani invitation, which is seen as yet another “provocation” by Indian side, comes after persistent ceasefire violations as well as two terror attacks in recent weeks in Gurdaspur and Udhampur which many observers see as Pakistan army’s opposition to any discussions with India. “The leaders termed India’s demand not to meet Kashmiri leaders as unacceptable”.

India called off peace talks with Pakistan a year ago after its neighbour consulted the separatists ahead of a meeting between their foreign secretaries.

He said they have prepared three dossiers on alleged activities of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) on Pakistani soil.