Kashmir: 2nd-round talks in March

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference will continue its dialogue with New Delhi [ Images ] in search for a just and enduring solution to the Kashmir problem, APHC spokesman Abdul Gani Bhat said on Thursday.

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Bhat, who was part of a five-member team led by APHC chairman Maulavi Abbas Ansari which opened talks with Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani [ Images ] in New Delhi, described the meeting as "fair, free and amicable."

Bhat said the second-round talks would take place in March.

He said the deputy prime minister heard them patiently and quoted Advani as saying:  "Guns must give place to political voice in the Valley."

Bhat said the two sides agreed that all forms of violence must end and that there should be a step-by-step approach for the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Bhat said the government has agreed to conduct a rapid review of cases of political detenues in Jammu and Kashmir [ Images ].

Ansari said the meeting with deputy prime minister must serve as an 'eye-opener' to the hardliners.

"We have been accused by the hardliners of making a sell-out of Kashmir cause. But now they will have to eat their
words," Ansari said.

In Srinagar [ Images ], Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed [ Images ] called the talks a 'breakthrough'. He said those who have joined the dialogue must be given a chance to move forward.

The Hurriyat team is likely to make a courtesy call on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee [ Images ] on Friday.