NEW DELHI, Aug 31: Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will meet Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other leaders of Kashmir’s All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) on Monday, both sides said on Wednesday.
The move follows weekend meetings between the prime minister’s representative Wajahat Habibullah, a bureaucrat who seems to have enjoyed the trust of ordinary Kashmiris for years, and their spiritual leader in Srinagar.
However, the move also coincided with reports of a financial investigation suddenly launched against breakaway liberal leader Shabbir Shah, indicating that not all was well with the latest peace overture from New Delhi.
Another resistance leader, JKLF’s Yasin Malik, was said to be invited to meet Dr Singh but he apparently pleaded his inability to attend the meeting citing a foreign tour.
“The Prime Minister has invited Hurriyat chairman and other leaders for talks,” the Indian prime minister’s Media Adviser Sanjaya Baru said.
