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Indian PM invites Kashmirs pro-indy leader for talks
 NEW DELHI - Indias prime minister on Monday invited Kashmiri pro-independence leader Yasin Malik for talks on ending the decades-old dispute over the Himalayan territory, officials said. The talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are scheduled for Feb. 17 in New Delhi, said Sanjaya Baru, the media adviser to the prime minister.Malik is the chief of the Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front, which launched insurgency in the Indian portion of Kashmir in 1989. The group, however, later gave up arms and has been campaigning for a Kashmir independent of both India and Pakistan. Reached for comment, Malik said he had just received the invitation, and would be meeting with top members of the group to discuss whether to accept it and what the agenda should be. As Singh launched peace initiatives with Pakistan, he also held talks with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella group of political and religious separatist leaders in Kashmir, in September. He followed it up with a meeting in January with Sajad Lone, who heads the Jammu-Kashmir Peoples Conference. Posted by: Steve White 2006-02-14 |
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