In a bid to end the decades-long conflict, secret talks were held between Indian officials and Kashmiri Muslim leaders to discuss the future of the disputed province, The Hindu reported Tuesday, November 17.
Government sources said Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram held talks with leader of the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
The talks, held at the weekend, aimed to kickstart the stalled peace talks to decide the future of the disputed region, said the sources.
Police watch units following the Kashmiri leader were ordered to withdraw ahead of the meeting, said the sources.
The two sides earlier held talks in September ahead of Mirwaiz’s departure for New York to attend a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Kashmir is divided into two parts and ruled by India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars since the 1947 independence over the region.
Pakistan and the UN back the right of the Kashmir people for self-determination, an option opposed by New Delhi.
More than 47,000 have been killed in the deadly violence plaguing the disputed region.
Contacts
But Mirwaiz denied holding talks with the Indian minister.
"No meeting took place while I was in New Delhi," said Mirwaiz, who returned home from New Delhi on Monday.
He, however, admitted that there had been “some back-channel contacts between the Hurriyat and the government."
He argued that the contacts amounted to "communication, rather than a dialogue."
There was no comment from Chidambaram or the Indian government on the reported talks.
Earlier, Chidambaram announced the start of “quite diplomacy� to solve the Kashmir conflict.
Peace talks between the Indian government and the Kashmiri leaders to solve the Kashmir conflict broke down in 2006.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offered to resume the talks last month during a visit to Kashmir.
Kashmiri leaders insist that New Delhi pulls out troops, releases prisoners and ends human rights violations before resuming peace talks.
They also called for three-way talks between India, Pakistan and Kashmiri leaders to settle the conflict, a call vehemently rejected by New Delhi.