Kashmir talks without Pakistan futile: Former Hurriyat chief

While mainline Hurriyat leaders maintained silence over the Centre's decision to open a dialogue with all stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir, a former chief of the separatist amalgam on Tuesday said any peace process without involving Pakistan was futile.

Moulvi Abbas Ansari, a prominent Shia leader, said tripartite talks between India, Pakistan and people from Jammu and Kashmir, was the only way forward to resolve the Kashmir problem.

"When I was the chairman of the Hurriyat Conference and general Parvez Musharraf ruled Pakistan, I told both the countries that a solution can only be reached if people from both parts of Kashmir are included in a tripartite dialogue between Kashmiris, India and Pakistan," the senior separatist leader said in a statement.

The reaction from the separatist leader came a day after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced the government's decision to appoint Dineshwar Sharma, former chief of the Intelligence Bureau, as the interlocutor for a sustained dialogue in Jammu and Kashmir.

Other senior separatist leaders including Chairman of the hardline Hurriyat faction Syed Ali Shah Geelani, moderate Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF head Yasin Malik have not reacted to the government's move.

--IANS

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