Omar welcomes Govt.'s nod to Hurriyat-Pak talks

With Centre giving its nod to the Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders for talks with Pakistan and its representatives, former chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Monday welcomed the move and said it is good the ruling dispensation has finally realised its mistake.

"When they (the Centre) cancelled the bilateral talks with Pakistan over Hurriyat leaders meeting them, we had said that it was a wrong thing. It is good that they have realized their mistake," Omar told reporters here.

Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retd.) V.K. Singh had in a written reply to the Parliament last week said there is no bar on so-called Kashmiri leaders meetings with representatives of any country in India since the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the Union of India and they are Indian citizens.

General (Retd.) Singh reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's stand that there can't be any role for any third party in the India-Pakistan dialogue process.

"India has consistently maintained that there is no role for a third party in the bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan as per the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration. India's displeasure at Pakistan's attempts to interfere in India's internal affairs has been repeatedly conveyed to Pakistan," he added.

The NDA Government had in August 2014 cancelled the Foreign Secretary-level talks with Islamabad over Pakistan's High Commissioner Abdul Basit's meeting with the Hurriyat leaders prior to the talks.