Bilateral contacts: Hurriyat leaders on Islamabad swing from Dec 15

Their upcoming trip will be the first in four years.

ISLAMABAD:

A delegation of Kashmiri leaders from across the Line of Control (LoC) will visit Pakistan later this week for the first time in four years, indicating a gradual improvement in ties between Islamabad and New Delhi.

According to a foreign ministry statement issued Monday, leaders from Indian-held Kashmir will be embarking on a week-long trip to Pakistan from December 15.

Even though the statement did not provide names of the visiting leaders, the delegation is said to include leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other moderate leaders of the grouping.

However, Syed Ali Geelani, who heads his own faction of the APHC, turned down Pakistan’s invitation, calling it nothing but an opportunity for a photograph.



But other Kashmiri leaders are of the view that such visits may help in finding a longstanding solution to the decades-old dispute over the territory.

“The visit of the Kashmiri delegation to Pakistan will provide them an opportunity to exchange views with leaders, politicians and other opinion-makers on Kashmir,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said.

The Hurriyat leaders are scheduled to meet Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and other senior government officials.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2012.