NEW DELHI, 23 January 2004 — The ice finally melted a little yesterday. India’s Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani and Kashmir’s Hurriyat leaders held “path-breaking talks” for the first time. The talks do not end here but signal the beginning of a long-term dialogue for resolving differences between the Indian government and separatist Kashmiri leaders. The next round of talks between Advani and Hurriyat leaders would be held in March.

The Hurriyat leaders will meet Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today. This would be a “courtesy call,” government sources said.

The talks were held in a “good environment,” Advani said at a press conference immediately after his meeting with the Hurriyat leaders.

“They mark a good beginning,” Advani said.

During the talks that lasted two-and-a-half hours both sides agreed that all forms of violence should end immediately and a step-by-step approach be adopted for the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Expressing satisfaction with the talks, Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Bhat said: “We have had amicable, free, frank, fair and fruitful discussions and it has been agreed upon that work for release of political prisoners will be expedited.”

Bhat said that Advani had asked the Hurriyat delegation to “replace the sound of gun with political noise.”

Asked about Hurriyat’s demand for release of political prisoners, Advani clarified, “Cases against some of them would be reviewed.”

These include the cases of those arrested for non-serious crimes.

On whether the government had agreed to Hurriyat leaders’ demand for a trip to Pakistan for a meeting with Kashmiri leaders across the border, Advani said it was not possible for him to quote each and every sentence of the discussions.

Advani said he asked the Hurriyat leaders to look into the plight of Kashmiri pundits to which the latter “agreed.”

Advani was assisted in the talks by members of the Coordination Committee on Kashmir including the federal government’s interlocutor, N.N. Vohra, and Home Secretary N. Gopalaswamy.

Despite the Hurriyat Conference failing to seek support of all separatist Kashmiri leaders, the holding of substantive talks with Delhi is being viewed as the opening of a new chapter in the history of violence-scarred Kashmir.

The five-member delegation representing the Hurriyat Conference included its chairman Maulana Abbas Ansari (Itehadul Muslimeen), Mirwaiz Omar Farooq (Awami Action Committee), Abdul Ghani (Muslim Conference), Bilal Ghani Lone (People’s Conference) and Fazal Haq Qureshi (People’s Political Front).

Jamat-e-Islami, JKLF and the People’s League stayed away from the talks.

The talks were held at Advani’s North Block Office. The next round of talks would also be held in Delhi

Just ahead of the meeting, a Hurriyat leader said that these talks were supplementary to the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan.

Talks between the two countries on a range of issues, including Kashmir, are scheduled to begin next month.