File photo: Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit
Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit's decision to invite leaders of separatist groups in Kashmir for talks, days before the foreign secretaries of the two nations hold talks in Islamabad, has not gone down well with either the ruling BJP or the opposition Congress.
The Pakistan High Commission often holds talks with Kashmiri separatist groups, but this time, the timing of Mr Basit's invitation has created a controversy.
Foreign Secretary Sujata Singh is due to hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry on August 25, in what will be the first official dialogue between the two countries after a year and a half.
The invitations have been issued to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chief of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, head of the Hurriyat's hardline faction, senior separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah and Mohammad Yasin Malik, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front or JKLF.
The decision to hold Foreign Secretary-level talks, with a new government in power in India, were preceded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation to the heads of state of neighbouring nations to attend his swearing-in ceremony. This had renewed hopes about a fresh approach by both countries to solve their long-standing disputes.
BJP leader Subramanium Swamy said the invitations were an attempt to spoil the environment, but pointed out that Mr Modi was the only Prime Minister to openly say that Pakistan was indulging in a "proxy war".
The Congress did not shy away from picking on the Modi government over the issue.
In a tweet, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said, "Pak High Comm feting separatists, Pak Army intruding across the border, ISI attacking Indian Consulate in Herat BJP govt sleeps. Ache Din Agaye".
Incidentally, in a sharp departure from the speeches made by his predecessors, Mr Modi had refrained from mentioning Pakistan in his recent address to the nation on Independence Day.