Geelani meeting Pak envoy has no bearing on New Delhi-Islamabad relations: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said the meeting between separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit has no bearing on the relationship between new Delhi and Islamabad, adding that the Hurriyat leadership has no influence over the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The Government of India was quite opposed to Pakistan High Commissioner talking to the separatist leaders last year. This meeting with Geelani does not have any bearing on the bilateral talk between India and Pakistan. So Pakistan is simply indulging in activities which have no major influence on Indo-Pak relations," BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao told ANI.

"Hurriyat leadership does not have any influence over the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We have seen how the people of Kashmir Valley have rejected the boycott call given by the Hurriyat conference. If Pakistan High Commissioner wants to talk to separatist leaders who have no influence whatsoever in the Valley, then it is their judgement," he added.

Earlier in the day, Geelani held a 45-minute dialogue with Basit where they discussed issues pertaining to Kashmir.

Basit also appraised Geelani of Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar's recent visit to Pakistan.

This meeting comes two days after separatist leader Masarat Alam was released by the Jammu and Kashmir government.

In August 2014, a meeting between Basit and Geelani on eve of talks between the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan had enraged the government, leading to the cancellation of Foreign Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan.