Hurriyat urges Pak Foreign Secy to take forward talk process

New Delhi, Nov 14 (UNI) The Moderate Hurriyat Conference leaders today impressed upon Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan to take forward the dialogue process with India in the larger interest of peace in the southasian region.

''We welcome the resumed dialogue between India and Pakistan. It is a step in the right direction and it should be taken forward towards its logical end,'' Hurriyat delegation leader Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat told UNI after a two-hour meeting with the visiting top Pakistani diplomat.

Prof Bhat said talks between India and Pakistan, India and the separatists and Pakistan and the separatists is a joint effort towards resolving the vexed issue.

The Hurriyat delegation comprising Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, Maulana Abbas Ansari, Bilal Ghani Lone and Aga Syed Hassan also discussed the prevailing situation in the restive state with Mr Khan, who is in India to hold official talks with his counterpart Shiv Shankar Menon.

''We are hopeful that the entire dialogue process will yield result to the satisfaction of all parties concerned and a lasting peace will be restored in Jammu and Kashmir,'' Prof Bhat said.

Referring to the gap between bilateral talks, the moderate Hurriyat leader said, ''We have been talking with India and with Pakistan. If there are yawning gaps between one meeting and the other it does not matter.'' Stressing upon the need for focussed talks on the strife-torn state, he said, ''It is imperative for Delhi and Islamabad to keep the bilateral talks Kashmir-centric even if the two sides discuss Siachen and other allied issues.'' Asserting that the Hurriyat has been a votary of sustained but purposeful talks, he expressed the hope that the day was not far when such parleys were going to bear fruits.

Prior to the moderate Hurriyat Conference, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party president Shabir Ahmed Shah held discussions with Pakistan Foreign Secretary.

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