Pak foreign secretary meets Kashmiri separatist Geelani

Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani today asked Pakistan to make Kashmir issue the core of dialogue with India rather than harp on water-sharing and other issues.

Ahead of the resumption of foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan tomorrow, visiting Pakistani foreign secretary Salman Bashir met Geelani for 90 minutes.

Emerging from the meeting, Geelani, who has been quite vocal against the policies of Pakistan vis-a-vis Kashmir, said he had asked the visiting delegation from Islamabad to concentrate only on Kashmir issue during their discussion with India tomorrow.

Geelani said he told the Pakistan foreign secretary that Islamabad "should not run away from its responsibilities of
providing moral, diplomatic and political support to Kashmir issue".

The Jamaat-e-Islami leader said terrorism or water-sharing issues between India and Pakistan were "peripheral" issues.

Bashir later met a delegation of moderate Hurriyat leaders led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and comprising Moulana Abbas Ansari, Abdul Gani Bhat, Aga Syed Hassan Al-Mousvi Al-Safvi and Bilal Lone.