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Kashmir separatist leader turns down Pakistan's Eid party invitation

Xinhua, July 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

The hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Geelani, Tuesday said he would boycott Eid party function at the Pakistan High Commission office in New Delhi as a mark of protest with Islamabad for ignoring the Kashmir issue.

"No mention of the Kashmir issue in the recent meeting of the Indo-Pak prime ministers is very sorrowful and Hurriyat (freedom) Conference will boycott the Eid Milan party as a token of protest against this," reads a statement issued by the separatist alliance.

"Kashmir was the issue of the future of 13 million people and they cannot be taken as for granted in any way and at any occasion, and neither can they be ignored," the statement said.

The prime ministers of India and Pakistan last week met on the sidelines of the 15th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit at the Russian city of Ufa and agreed to restart bilateral talks to discuss all outstanding issues.

According to media reports, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif didn't mention "Kashmir" in its engagement with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

The Pakistan high commission in India has invited Hurriyat leaders and other separatists from Indian-controlled Kashmir to its Eid Milan party scheduled to be held in its New Delhi office on July 21.

Last year New Delhi called off foreign secretary-level talks with Islamabad citing reservations over Pakistan's engagement with Kashmiri separatists ahead of the talks. Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Endi