India-Pak talks must go on: separatist leader Shabir Shah

Says separatists won't back out of talks, have been meeting Pak leaders for 25 years

Talks between India and Pakistan must go on, Jammu and Kashmir separatist leader Shabir Shah said on Saturday as he left for Delhi to attend Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz's reception party on Sunday.

While leaving for the airport from his Hyderpora residence here, the Hurriyat Conference leader told the media: "The talks must go on to subside the pressure on both sides of the Line of Control."

He brushed aside the furore over his meeting with Aziz ahead of the NSA talks between India and Pakistan, and said: "We have been meeting them (Pakistan leaders) since 25 years, even during the NDA and UPA rule."

"We will not back out. We will go to Delhi and meet them. It is important for us to go so that we can seek answers from Pakistan's side also," he added.

Shah and other Hurriyat Conference leaders have been invited by the Pakistan envoy in New Delhi, Abdul Basit, for Aziz's reception party.

However, Syed Ali Shah Geelani is scheduled to have a one-on-one conversation with the NSA on Monday morning.

Leaders of Hurriyat's both factions, headed by Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq as well as other separatist leaders Yasin Malik and Naeem Khan have been invited to the reception party.

Aziz is likely to meet his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval during his Delhi visit.