Pak PM to take up Kashmir issue with Prez Obama, says Umar Farooq

Separatist Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Tuesday said Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit told him that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would take up the Kashmir issue with President Barak Obama during his visit to the United States.

"They (Pakistani) feel that the international community, especially the US, can play a meaningful role in pushing India and Pakistan towards a meaningful dialogue. As India and Pakistan are nuclear state, so it is important that the US should look into the Kashmir issue through that prism as well," said Umar Farooq, who met Basit in New Delhi on Monday.

"Basit said Kashmiri aspirations and Kashmiri views have to be a part of any process, which is aimed at addressing the issue, and India and Pakistan both need to engage with the people of Kashmir," he said.

Basit reiterated Pakistan's support to the Kashmir issue, to Hurriyat; and said very clearly that Pakistan would continue to support Kashmir politically, diplomatically and morally, he added.

Earlier, Umar Farooq's meeting with Pakistan's National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz was aborted.