As uncertainty loomed large over Indo-Pak NSA talks, moderate Hurriyat Conference leader Bilal Lone and Shabir Shah were among four separatist leaders detained today at Delhi airport to prevent them from meeting Pakistans NSA Sartaj Aziz in the event of his arrival here.
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The leaders flew to New Delhi on Saturday for a meeting with Aziz.
Even if the Hurriyat leaders are restrained from meeting Aziz, Islamabad can not technically complain for they are Indian citizens and the establishment here is competent to deal with them as required in the interests of the country.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry, while talking to Dawn.com, said: “Pakistan will not drop Kashmir from its agenda nor will it cancel the meeting with Hurriyat leaders”.
The top separatist leaders have received an invite from Pakistan High Commission in Delhi for a reception being hosted for Aziz, who is scheduled to arrive in Delhi tomorrow afternoon to hold talks with Doval on Monday. “It’s important for us to go so that we can seek answers from their side (Pakistan) also”, Shabbir Shah was quoted as saying while leaving his residence for New Delhi by the Indian media. Pakistan sees no reason to depart from this established past practice.
The Pakistani establishment has also fuelled this perception by attributing all the recent terror attacks in the country to India’s Research and Analysis Wing. However, their detention was ended after two hours by the police surreptitiously.
The latest round of recriminations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours leaves the talks, set at a meeting between prime ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif in Russian Federation last month, on a knife edge.
The cease-fire violations on the Line of Control and border in Kashmir are likely to figure in Sunday’s agenda. Responding, Pakistan said it would not adhere to India’s “advice”.
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The Mirwaiz while delivering customary sermon at Srinagar’s historic Grand Mosque termed Kashmir dispute as the main pending issue between India and Pakistan and asserted that the relations between the two arch-rivals is hard to improve unless it was solved in accordance with the aspirations and emotions of Kashmiris.
