Srinagar: Government of India’s representative to J&K Dineshwar Sharma managed to meet at least two Hurriyat leaders during his second visit to Kashmir last week, The Economic Times reported on Tuesday.
As per the report, Sharma drove to the residence-cum-office of Senior Hurriyat (M) leader Abdul Gani Bhat in Wazir Bagh Srinagar on November 27 at around 10:30 pm in Srinagar where another Hurriyat leader was present during the meeting, which went on for around an hour,
The meeting assumes significance as the joint Hurriyat leadership led by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Yasin Malik have stayed away from the dialogue initiative, claiming the exercise was a ‘waste of time’, and questioned the sincerity of New Delhi.
The report said that when asked about the meeting, Bhat refused to talk about his engagement with Sharma, but quickly added that his party – the Muslim Conference — was principally in favour of dialogue and “open to meet anybody who seeks a dialogue on Kashmir, including Sharma”.
“India and Pakistan should engage in dialogue, that’s where the key lies. While talking to Pakistan, India should talk to Kashmiris and Pakistan should also talk to Kashmiris,” the report quoting Bhat said.
