SRINAGAR, India: A major separatist leader in Indian-controlled Kashmir agreed Tuesday to take part in direct talks with New Delhi to settle a six-decades-long dispute over the Himalayan province.
The decision by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq offers some hope in the long-stalled effort to resolve the conflict. However, three previous rounds of talks ended in failure, and other separatists leaders appeared divided over whether to try again.
Farooq, head of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an alliance of separatist groups, said negotiations should eventually lead to three-way talks between Kashmiri leaders, India and Pakistan.
The Himalayan region is divided between the nuclear-armed neighbors, who both claim Kashmir in its entirety and have fought two wars over it.
Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram recently offered to hold a quiet dialogue, away from the media gaze, with Kashmiri separatist leaders to resolve the conflict.
The talks should kickstart a process that would eventually include Pakistan and achieve a lasting solution, Farooq said. His alliance was committed to the talks but the Indian offer lacked clarity, he said.
Farooq’s efforts to get other separatist leaders to join a new round of talks has failed so far.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a prominent Kashmiri leader, rejected any talks that did not include Pakistan.
