Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq — engaged in “quiet” diplomacy with New Delhi — is going to China after his travel to Pakistan later this year on Islamabad’s invitation.

“Yes, I will visit China soon,” Mirwaiz told The Indian Express. He said he had been invited by the Han Foundation, a Chinese “NGO” to talk about “Muslim” issues. “It is basically a Muslim NGO,” Mirwaiz said.

Mirwaiz, sources said, is likely to meet the meet diplomats and administrators in Beijing to give them his “perspective” on the situation in Kashmir.

This comes at a time when the US-China statement on India-Pakistan relations prompted the MEA yesterday to say that there was no third-party role in bilateral relations with Pakistan.

If the visit goes ahead, it will be the first time that any separatist leader from the Valley will go to China. In the past, Mirwaiz has called for a “joint contact group on Kashmir” between India, China, and Pakistan.

The invitation has come when relations between China and India are strained following Beijing’s criticism of the Dalai Lama’s visit to Tawang and reports of Kashmiris being given stapled visas instead of regular stamped visas.

The Hurriyat chairman will travel to Islamabad after Eid to hold consultations with the Pakistan government.