Giving a clear hint that it is ready to resume parleys with the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference, the Centre on Tuesday said it will extend a formal invitation to APHC once they indicate their resolve to meet Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to find a solution to the Kashmir problem.
"We are ready to talk to anybody. We are not excluding anybody. All are included [in the dialogue process]," Patil
told reporters in Srinagar after meeting Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and senior state Congress leader Abdul Gani Vakil separately.
Highly-placed sources said the invitation will be sent as soon as Hurriyat leaders agree to hold talks with Patil.
Hurriyat leaders have been insisting on holding talks with the prime minister.
During the previous National Democratic Alliance government's rule, the then deputy prime minister Lal Kishenchand Advani had held two rounds of talks with Hurriyat leaders.
Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed said the dialogue process should include the separatists. "I believe in the process of dialogue and the process is on," Sayeed said.
Asked about the demand for autonomy to the border state, he said there are "internal dimensions" to the issue. He did
not elaborate.
About his talks with the Union home minister, he said the discussions centred around the general situation in the state. "People have realised that the gun is no answer and only dialogue will lead to a solution," he said.
