NEW DELHI, Nov 30: President Gen Pervez Musharraf will meet All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in Makkah next week when they are likely to exchange notes on their talks with India as well as with a high-level delegation of US Congressmen visiting both countries this week.

The APHC leader told Dawn he would be participating in the extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Makkah on Dec 7-8. Pakistani diplomats said Gen Musharraf would also be going to the OIC conference.

“It’s logical that when the two are in one place they would meet. It’s also logical that they would discuss issues that are common between them,” one diplomat said acknowledging the proposed meeting between the Kashmiri representative and President Musharraf.

Pakistan is believed to be watching the talks that US Congressmen have had in India through the prism of a recent 9/11 related US legislation.

In India the Sec 4082 of the Act passed in the US Congress last December has caused some serious worry.

The clause requires that the United States should provide assistance to encourage and enable Pakistan to seek to resolve any outstanding difficulties with its neighbours and other countries in the region.

India fears that Pakistan may interpret the clause to mean that there was an assurance by the US to help them resolve the Kashmir issue in their favour.

Moreover, some members of the visiting Congressional delegation have shown support for Gen Musharraf’s ideas on “demilitarization of Jammu and Kashmir” and “self-rule”.

Mr Farooq and President Musharraf are expected to discuss the emerging “new thoughts” about the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

The Kashmiri leader will also brief President Musharraf of his recent meetings with US Congressmen in New Delhi. The 15-member US delegation was led by noted human rights activist Dan Burton.

This would be their fourth interaction in the past eight months. Mr Farooq had met President Musharraf in New Delhi on April 17 when he had come to watch a one-day cricket match between India and Pakistan later in Islamabad on June 7 when the Hurriyat leaders had crossed the Line of Control in the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus.

The two again met in New York on Sept 17 when Gen Musharraf was there to attend the 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and Mr Farooq to attend an OIC summit.