According to Peoples Democratic Party sources, Mehbooba Mufti, whom Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari during her early 2008 visit described as “my sister from Kashmir”, has not been given a visa.
A party leader close to her, referring to the suicide bombings and terror attacks across Pakistan, said the visa was denied because of problems within the country.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, who was to lead a delegation of his conglomerate for talks with the Pakistani leadership, too, has deferred his visit.
Mirwaiz and his conglomerate had an open invitation from Zardari and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to visit the Islamic republic.
The invite was extended to him when he visited New York to attend the Organisation of the Islamic Conference meet in September in 2009.
Published 20 December 2009, 18:53 IST