Srinagar, November 11
A Kashmiri separatist leader who met a top adviser of Pakistani Prime Minister in New Delhi on Sunday said she sensed a change in policy of the new government in Islamabad, which “admitted” to her that former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s policy on the region was a “mistake”.

Aasiya Andrabi, who heads the radical all-women separatist outfit Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of Nation), met Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s advisor on foreign affairs in New Delhi.

Andrabi, the only woman among the Kashmiri separatist leaders who met Aziz, said she shared her “concerns” with Sharif’s adviser.

“We have taken a decision that we will stand for the right to self-determination, nothing less than that… we ensure you we are with you,” Andrabi quoted Aziz as telling her during the meeting. Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Salman Bashir, Dukhtaran-e-Millat’s general secretary Nahida Nasreen and Andrabi’s close aide Fehmeeda Sofi were also present at the meeting.

Andrabi said Sharif’s advisor “admitted” that Musharraf’s policy, which was amajor change in Pakistan’s traditional approach on Kashmir, was a “mistake”.