NEW DELHI, Nov 24: Senior US congressmen will hold talks with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and two pro-India Kashmiri leaders here on Monday ahead of their engagements with Indian officials to probe the way ahead in the peace talks with Pakistan, informed sources said on Thursday.
The delegation led by Republican Congressman Dan Burton, known for his strong advocacy for the Kashmiri and Sikh diaspora in the United States, is expected to meet Ms Mehbooba Mufti of Peoples Democratic Party and Mr Omar Abdullah of National Conference, two rival pro-India parties of Kashmir.
Both have pushed for a positive Indian response to President Pervez Musharraf’s peace overtures. The Mirwaiz has welcomed Islamabad’s proposal for self-governance as an important idea in the complex talks ahead.
Srinagar-based daily ‘Greater Kashmir’ reported on Thursday that Mr Burton would discus the possibilities of an “interim solution” to the Kashmir issue.
It said US ambassador in New Delhi David C Mulford would host a dinner for Kashmiri politicians following their interaction with the congressmen. These leaders with conflicting views on issue were projected as “the young guardians of Kashmir” in a recent leadership summit in New Delhi.
“The visiting US team is understood to be keen on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s televised proposals about Kashmir. The Mirwaiz, Mehbooba and Omar may shortly be in New Delhi to exchange with the visiting US congressmen their respective views about demilitarization and maximum self-governance for Kashmir,” the daily said.
It said the visit assumes significance in the backdrop of Pakistan’s insistence on withdrawal of nearly one million troops from both sides of the divided region.
“Musharraf is facing tremendous internal pressures. India must give him some concessions and respond positively to the suggestions of demilitarizing some areas in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mr Omar Abdullah had told a business delegation from Azad Kashmir that called on him in September.
‘The Hindu’, reporting from Srinagar, said the APHC held a second consecutive closed-door meeting on Wednesday to discuss the proposal of self governance.
‘The Hindu’ quoted sources in the Hurriyat as saying that the meeting was called to discuss the self governance and demilitarisation proposals made by Pakistan and the Hurriyat’s proposed visit to the quake hit areas of Azad Kashmir.
Pakistan on Monday revealed that a proposal about self governance had been shared with New Delhi. However, much before this, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti talked on the need for such a type of government while delivering her speech in Leadership summit organised by the ‘Hindustan Times’ in Delhi on November 16.
