M A I N   N E W S

Sharif not to meet Kashmiri separatists
Azhar Qadri
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 25
In an unusual break from the tradition, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will skip any meeting with Kashmiri separatists during his visit to the country tomorrow.

Sharif, who will visit New Delhi to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Indian Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi, has not invited any Kashmiri separatist for a meeting, which is rare in recent decades. Separatist leaders from various factions and groups here confirmed to The Tribune that no invitation has been sent to them for a meeting with Sharif.

One separatist leader said Sharif's decision to visit India was taken in a 'haste'. "That is why there might have been no time to schedule meetings (with separatists)," he said. Separatists remained restricted in their views about the impact of the decision. One member of hardline faction said it may have been done to avoiding controversy.

Usually, senior Pakistani leaders, during their visits to India, have ensured meetings with Kashmiri separatist leaders. In December last year, Sharif’s top adviser Sartaj Aziz met Kashmiri separatists, which had created furore with the then-Opposition BJP terming such a meeting a "diplomatic blunder" by the UPA government. The relations between the Pakistani government and region's separatists have gone cold in the recent years. The drift began in 2002 when the then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf changed his country’s Kashmir policy.

While the moderate separatists welcomed Musharraf’s new policy and supported his four-point formula to find a solution to the Kashmir issue, the hardliners remained miffed on account of Pakistan's changed stance.

A break from past

• Pak PM has not invited any Kashmiri separatist for a meeting which is rare in recent decades.
• Separatist leaders from various factions confirmed that they had not received any invitation to meet Sharif.
• One separatist leader said the reason could be that Sharif's decision to visit India was taken in a 'haste'.
• One member of hardline faction said it may have been done to avoiding controversy.