Jammu and Kashmir separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Monday accused the Indian Army of 'ruling' the state, and dismissed the new Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led government as yet another 'face'.
"Around 150 dialogues between India and Pakistan have taken place, but none of them have come to a conclusion. The faces change and the parties change, but the ground reality doesn't change. The army rules Jammu and Kashmir," Geelani told ANI.
Earlier in the day, Geelani held a 45-minute dialogue with Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit.
"He had come to meet me. We had a discussion on Indian Foreign Secretary's [S. Jaishankar's] visit to Pakistan. The prominent issue is that the Jammu and Kashmir issue must be resolved by dialogue between India and Pakistan," he said.
"We had talks but there was no motive. The only motive of talks should be that the issue of Kashmir is speedily solved," he added.
This meeting comes two days after separatist leader Masarat Alam was released by the Jammu and Kashmir government.
In August 2014, a meeting between Basit and Geelani had enraged the government, leading to the cancellation of Foreign Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan.
