India says Kashmir separatists ready for talks
(last modified Mon, 24 Jun 2019 16:58:25 GMT )
Jun 24, 2019 16:58 UTC
  • India says Kashmir separatists ready for talks

India says the leader of Kashmir's largest separatist group is ready for talks with New Delhi to resolve the conflict over the Himalayan valley.

In response to an offer by a senior Indian official, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chairman of Kashmir's moderate faction of All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference (APHC), a political movement that wants independence from India, said on Monday he would welcome talks.

“Hurriyat Conference has always been in favor of talks as the means of resolution,” he said, adding, “Kashmiris, being the most affected party for the past 72 years, naturally want its resolution.”

Satya Pal Malik, the Indian installed ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, told a news conference he had seen a softening in approach from separatist leaders, including the influential Hurriyat Conference.

"I feel happy that the temperature in the valley has gone down as compared to what it was during my arrival in Kashmir," he told a news conference on Saturday.

"Today Hurriyat, who once closed their doors... are ready for the talks with the Government of India,” Malik added.

Malik has governed the state since August 2018, shortly after India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew from a coalition with a local party, imposing direct rule from New Delhi.

The Muslim-majority Kashmir region is at the heart of more than seven decades of hostility between nuclear arch-rivals India and Pakistan. Both claim it in full but rule it in part.

In recent years, southern Kashmir has seen intense fighting between Indian forces and armed Kashmiri fighters, who are demanding independence for the Himalayan region. Over 100 have been killed in Indian-administered Kashmir this year in clashes with soldiers.

India regularly accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants and allowing them across the restive frontier in an attempt to launch attacks. Pakistan strongly rejects the accusation.

Relations nosedived in February when over 40 Indian paramilitaries were killed in a bomb attack in Kashmir.

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