Pakistani High Commission in India invited Hurriyat leaders for talks on Tuesday in a move that has been called a “deliberate attempt to irritate India,” by an Indian analyst.
S. Chandrasekharan, who is the director of South Asia Analysis Group in New Delhi, expressed his opinion in these words while talking to reporters. Pakistan’s invitation to separatists for a meeting was a move that risked worsening already strained relations between the two countries.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani is among the leaders invited to the Pakistan High Commission on August 23, the day talks between the security officials are due to start, Ayaz Akbar, a spokesman for the separatists, said. A spokesman for the Pakistani embassy named Manzoor Ali confirmed the invitation.
Modi, who has signaled that he will not tolerate Pakistan meeting with Kashmiri separatists, has take a notably tougher approach to Pakistan as clashes on the disputed border intensified. As recently as a week ago, Indian and Pakistani troops traded gunfire and mortar rounds along their frontier, killing eight people.
