NEW DELHI, May 24 (UPI) -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will not talk with Kashmiri separatist group the All-Party Hurriyat Conference on the sidelines of the Kashmir meeting.
The moderate faction of Hurriyat on Monday decided to boycott the second roundtable meeting on the issue, saying it was too crowded.
At a meeting with Singh on May 3, Hurriyat had agreed to formulate a mechanism for putting into place a structured dialogue process, and favored a trilateral approach by India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri people.
"Anyone who wishes to be part of the dialogue process can meet the prime minister, either on May 24 or 25, when the conference will be on. The Hurriyat's decision to stay away is their loss," said a senior Indian Interior Ministry official.
A regional party, National Conference, threatened to pull out of the meeting if Singh agreed to meet Hurriyat separately.
The Hindu newspaper said Wednesday that the government had affirmed that despite the terrorist attack on a Congress rally two days ago in Srinagar, in which six people were killed, such attempts to derail the peace process would not be allowed to succeed and the roundtable meeting would happen as scheduled.
A government official said the meeting is likely to address issues such as trade across the Line of Control and the plight of political detainees.
The first roundtable meeting, in February 2006, concluded that the journey to find a consensual solution to the problem was a long one, requiring patience, fortitude and the involvement of the people of the state, and marked the government's readiness to engage all sections of Kashmiri society.
