India to respond 'appropriately' if Pak NSA Sartaj Aziz meets Kashmiri separatists

Apparently irked over the Pakistan High Commission's invitation to Kashmiri separatist leaders to meet its NSA Sartaj Aziz when he is here on August 23 to hold talks on terror, India on Wednesday said that it "respond appropriately" if the Pakistanis go ahead with the meeting with them.

New Delhi: Apparently irked over the Pakistan High Commission's invitation to Kashmiri separatist leaders to meet its NSA Sartaj Aziz when he arrives here on August 23 to hold talks on terror, India on Wednesday said that it will "respond appropriately" if the Pakistanis go ahead with the meeting with them.

The Kashmiri separatist leaders have been invited by the Pakistan High Commission here to meet Aziz, who will visit India to hold talks with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, a move about which the government is clearly unhappy, sources said.

"Let's see what happens (if they go ahead with the meeting with the separatists). The government will respond appropriately," PTI quoted government sources as saying.

The sources asserted that there are some sections in the Pakistani establishment which want to "scuttle" the Indo-Pak talks and are ratcheting up anti-India activities thereby, pushing India to call off NSA-level talks scheduled for Sunday.

"The invitation should be seen as latest provocative move in that direction," the sources said.

Hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been been invited to meet Aziz while other separatists leaders like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq have been invited for the reception being held in Aziz's honour by the Pakistan mission.

Last year, India had unilaterally called off Foreign Secretary-level talks after the Pakistan High Commissioner here had held "consultations" with the Kashmiri separatist leaders on the eve of the Foreign Secretary-level meeting.

With PTI inputs

If Sartaz Aziz meets Kashmiri separatists, should India call off NSA-level talks with Pak? in Nation on LockerDome