SRINAGAR, India, 29 April 2006 — Chairman of the moderate group of the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq yesterday said the APHC would soon hold the second round of talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
He, however, added these talks should not be linked to the round-table conference to be chaired by the prime minister in Srinagar on May 25. “The APHC believes the dialogue to be a continuous process. We will, therefore, shortly hold the second round of talks with the Indian prime minister, but these talks should not be linked to the round-table conference,” the Mirwaiz told reporters after Friday prayers in downtown Srinagar.
About participation in the roundtable conference, the Mirwaiz said: “We are not against participation in principle, but we would not like to be part of a crowd. Let us first speak to the prime minister and see what agenda he has in mind for the roundtable. We shall decide on participation after that.”
“The moderate APHC group believes that Pakistan has shown enough flexibility to resolve the Kashmir problem and it is time India exhibited concrete forward movement toward the solution of the problem,” he said.
The Mirwaiz also said the APHC had definite suggestions on the possible solutions to the Kashmir problem, but added that those suggestions would only be made at the right time.
