File Photo: Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit
Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit met Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq on Sunday during which a host of issues were discussed.
A seven-member delegation of the separatist outfit, led by Mirwaiz, arrived in New Delhi on Sunday for the meeting at the invitation of the Pakistan envoy.
"The Hurriyat leaders will discuss various aspects of Kashmir issue and apprise the Pakistan High Commissioner about the ground situation in Kashmir," a Hurriyat spokesman said before the meeting.
"Hurriyat executive members -- Mirwaiz, Abdul Gani Bhat, Maulana Abbas Ansari, Bilal Gani Lone, Aga Syed Hassan, Mussadiq Adil, and Mukhtar Ahmad Waza -- left for Delhi on an invitation by Pakistan High Commissioner," he said.
The meeting comes nearly a fortnight after Mr Basit had gone to the Delhi residence of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and updated him about the talks between Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry in Islamabad earlier this month to bring back on track the stalled Indo-Pak dialogue process.
"Yes, I will be meeting the Pakistani High Commissioner.
We are very happy that the two countries have come back to the dialogue table," Mirwaiz had earlier told Press Trust of India.
The Mirwaiz faction of the Hurriyat has advocated negotiations between India and Pakistan and has held talks with the previous NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and UPA government led by Manmohan Singh.
The Narendra Modi government had cancelled Foreign Secretary-level talks in August last year after Mr Basit had met Kashmiri separatist leaders ahead of their meeting, ignoring calls by the Indian government not to go ahead with it.
Another delegation comprising representatives of the general council of the Hurriyat will also leave for New Delhi on Monday to attend the Pakistan Day celebrations being held at the Pakistan High Commission.