NEW DELHI, Sept 9: Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has asked Kashmir’s All Parties Hurriyat Conference to help boost the dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad, according to Mirwaiz Maulvi Umar Farooq. Talking to Dawn on Friday, he quoted Dr Singh as telling the APHC leaders during their Monday meeting: “If Hurriyat can contribute to the India-Pakistan dialogue, they should.”

“This is an indication that India has accepted our idea of a triangular dialogue,” Mr Farooq said. “The usual Indian reluctance to accept our discussions with Pakistani leaders is no longer an issue with the establishment in Delhi.”

‘To carry this triangular dialogue forward,’ Mirwaiz said he would meet President Gen Pervez Musharraf in New York on September 17. “I will brief him about our talks in New Delhi. He would tell me about his discussions he would hold on September 14 with the Indian prime minister.”

But while this is good news for the Kashmiri people, the Mirwaiz said there were still mixed signals from New Delhi about its intentions in Kashmir.

“They picked up six Kashmiri women and slapped draconian charges against them just as we were locked in our discussion in Delhi,” he lamented.