Talks sans Kashmir will be futile: Nawaz Sharif

Two days after a scheduled meeting between the national security advisers of Pakistan and India was called off, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said any dialogue between the two countries without the Kashmir dispute figuring will be pointless.

"Any dialogue sans Kashmir issue will be futile," said Sharif in a cabinet meeting in Islamabad on Monday.

Kashmiri leaders are an important party to this issue. Any decision on their future cannot be made without their opinion and consultation, Radio Pakistan cited Sharif as saying.

His remarks came after Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz briefed the cabinet on the deadlock in the dialogue with India.

Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi had invited Hurriyat leaders for a reception on August 23 and Sartaj Aziz had planned to separately meet Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, before his scheduled talks with Indian counterpart Ajit Doval. India had objected to this.