Hurriyat involvement a non-issue: India

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JUNE 28. The Kashmir issue is an internal affair and the involvement of the Hurriyat Conference during the coming Indo- Pak. summit is a ``non-issue'', India reiterated here today.

Asked to comment on the references to Kashmir during the meeting of Foreign Ministers belonging to the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) in Mali, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson said India had ``dismissed interventionist approaches into our internal affairs''.

She was replying to a question on the demand reportedly made at the OIC meet that a special representative of the organisation be allowed to participate in the discussions on Kashmir.

She confirmed that India had officially conveyed to Pakistan, both in Islamabad and New Delhi, its reservations over the Hurriyat's involvement during the summit. Pakistan, she said, had ``taken note of our position.'' She added that the Hurriyat had unfettered access to hold talks and present its views before the designated Government representatives.

Referring to the proposal of the Pakistan-based Jamaat Uelame Islami's Maulana Fazlur Rehman that militants as well as the Indian security forces should cease fire till the summit, she said India had called for the cessation of activities related to terrorism across the Line of Control (LoC).

The Maulana, in a recent press conference, described the visit of the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to India as a ``sensitive step towards a peaceful solution of the dispute of Kashmir''.

To a question on the preparations for the summit, she said that an ``advance team'' was arriving from Islamabad next week to finalise arrangements for security, protocol and external publicity.

Asked if the Hurriyat leaders were invited at the reception, she expressed confidence that ``the Pakistani High Commission will take into consideration our views on the issue''.

``Normally it is not a practice to inform about the guest list, but in this case they know our views''.

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