In his talks with Kashmiri separatist leaders today, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Mahmood Kasuri said Islamabad and India were working towards increasing people-to-people contact between the divided parts of Kashmir. Kasuri met four major separatist leaders, including Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

The meetings that took place on the sidelines of the Indo-Pak Joint Commission talks and in the wake of the Samjhauta Express blasts lasted through the day, with JKLF leader Yasin Malik being the first to call on him. Democratic Freedom Party leader Shabir Shah was also called for talks.

“Kasuri sahib told us that Pakistan and India would soon take measures to further reduce formalities for travel between the two Kashmirs,” Mirwaiz told The Indian Express. “He (Kasuri) said there had been more progress on Kashmir in the last four months than there had been in the past 17 years of turmoil.”

India and Pakistan, Kasuri told Mirwaiz, were now by and large “on the same wavelength over Kashmir”.

Kasuri also supported Mirwaiz’s idea of formation of Working Groups on both sides of Kashmir, which would hold joint sittings and promote intra-Kashmir dialogue.

Malik, on the other hand, sought involvement of the representative Kashmiri leadership in the Indo-Pak dialogue.

Shabir Shah and Geelani sought a credible forward movement in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Kashmir. Geelani said he took a strong exception to the “change” in Pakistan policy on Kashmir. “I said that by going back on the UN resolutions, Pakistan had weakened its and Kashmiris’ case,” Geelani told The Indian Express.