A meeting of Kashmir's main separatist alliance failed Tuesday to agree on a united response to India's latest offer of peace talks on the future of the disputed Himalayan region.
"The discussions were inconclusive," said Abdul Gani Bhat, chairman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference -- an amalgam of two dozen political separatist groups in Kashmir.
The six-hour meeting of the Hurriyat's executive leadership followed Sunday's announcement by the Indian government's new pointman on Kashmir, K.C. Pant, that he had invited the alliance for talks on bringing peace to Kashmir.
Bhat said the formal invitation had arrived during the meeting and that the issue would now be discussed by the Hurriyat's 21-member working committee and 27-member general council.
"It may take more than a week to come up with a final response," he said.
Three of the Hurriyat's seven-member executive were absent from the meeting, including pro-Pakistan hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
The alliance is roughly split between the so-called "moderates" led by Bhat and Geelani's supporters who insist the Kashmir struggle is religious rather than political in nature.
The Hurriyat argues that any dialogue on Kashmir's future must include Pakistan.
It has also said it will engage in a dialogue only if New Delhi issues travel documents allowing its leaders to visit Pakistan for talks with Islamic militant groups and officials there.
Muslim militant outfits have rejected Pant's talks offer and warned that any parties entering into a dialogue with New Delhi would be branded traitors and dealt with severely.
India suspended counter-insurgency operations against militant groups in Kashmir on November 28. The unilateral ceasefire has since been extended three times and is due to expire at the end of May.
Muslim-majority Kashmir was divided between India and Pakistan in 1947 but remains claimed by both.
A Muslim separatist rebellion on the Indian side has claimed more than 34,000 lives since 1989, according to Indian figures. Separatist leaders say the death toll is twice as high.
The Pakistani press on Tuesday said Pant's planned dialogue with Kashmiri leaders would probably amount to little more than "shadow boxing" around the core issues.
"The Indian initiative, disguised as a political process, is in fact a shrewd two-pronged manoeuvre to relieve external pressure on New Delhi ... and to create a split among the Kashmiri leaders," the Nation daily said -- SRINAGAR, India (AFP)
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