JKLF rejects decision to hold Indo-Pak bilateral talks: Malik

JKLF chairman Yasin Malik today rejected the decision to hold the comprehensive bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan, saying "we do not accept" a dialogue where Kashmiris "have no role in it".

"We have never been against dialogue. We firmly believe that all the pending issues of the world can be ultimately settled through dialogue. However, the primary parties to the disputes need to be taken on board.

"We reject this comprehensive bilateral dialogue as Kashmir is not a party to it. We do not accept a dialogue where Kashmiris are told that they have no role in it," Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Malik told reporters here.

The JKLF chairman said "history is testimony to the fact that hundreds of rounds of dialogue on Kashmir in last seventy years between India and Pakistan have failed because the people of Kashmir were not taken aboard".

He said the people of Kashmir were the "primary party to the dispute" and it was imperative for both India and Pakistan to involve them in any dialogue process.

Breaking the logjam in their ties, India and Pakistan had yesterday announced that they have decided to engage in a "comprehensive" dialogue that will include peace and security and Jammu and Kashmir.

Capping a series of positive developments since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif met in Paris only ten days ago, it was announced here that the Foreign Secretaries will meet to decide the modalities and schedule of the dialogue.

The joint statement came after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met Sharif and later his Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad on the concluding day of her two-day visit for attending a multilateral conference on Afghanistan.