Hurriyat to press for inclusion of Kashmir issue in India-Pakistan talks

Srinagar, Feb 19(ANI): Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq on Friday said that he will call on Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir in the national capital ahead of his meeting with External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna, for inclusion of the Kashmir issue in the dialogue.

Both countries will resume Foreign Secretary-level talks in New Delhi on February 25, which was stopped after the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 166 lives were lost.

"The All-party Hurriyat Conference has decided that I should go to New Delhi and hold talks with the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan before he calls on the Indian Foreign Secretary," Farooq said.

"I will convey to him the sentiments of people of Kashmir that the people of Kashmir will welcome the talks only if it includes the issue of Kashmir in its agenda," he added. (ANI)