NEW DELHI: Police on Saturday detained two top Kashmiri separatist leaders after they landed at New Delhi’s airport ahead of talks between Indian and Pakistani security advisers.

The two flew in from Indian Kashmir for a meeting with Sartaj Aziz, national security adviser to Pakistan’s prime minister, who is scheduled to arrive in the Indian capital on Sunday.

Shabir Ahmed Shah and two colleagues were driven away from the airport by New Delhi police, said Zameer Ahmed, who was part of Shah’s entourage. Hours later, another separatist leader, Bilal Gani Lone, also was picked up by the police after his arrival at the airport and was later put under house arrest in New Delhi, said Shahid-ul-Islam, a spokesman for the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, the main separatist umbrella group in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

India opposes Pakistani leaders meeting with Kashmiri separatist leaders in New Delhi.

Shah heads the Democratic Freedom Party in the Indian portion of Kashmir. The group demands the right of self-determination for Kashmiri people.

The detention came as the two sides hit roadblocks over the contentious Kashmir region.

India told Aziz to avoid meeting Kashmiri separatist leaders during his visit to New Delhi for talks that New Delhi wants to focus on terrorism-related issues.

However, Pakistan has turned down India’s suggestion and said it would also discuss the decades-old Kashmir dispute with the Indian interlocutor as well.