New Delhi: Kashmir Committee Chairman Ram Jethmalani on September 7 said the talks with the Hurriyat Conference are to find a long-term solution to the Kashmir problem and there was no chance of the amalgam participating in the polls.

Jethmalani, who began a crucial second-round of talks with the Hurriyat on September 7 evening, said even the conditions put forth by Shabir Shah for his participation in the elections has not been met by the Centre and therefore there was no question of Hurriyat participating in the polls.

Terming these talks between Hurriyat and Kashmir Committee as the "most difficult part of the exercise", Jethmalani said that their participation in the elections was not even put on the agenda. He said the talks are progressing well.

The four-member Hurriyat Conference delegation at the talks was led by its Chairman Abdul Gani Bhat and comprised senior executive members Mirwaiz Umer Farooq (Awami Action Committee), Javed Ahmed Mir (JKLF) and Sheikh Ali Mohammed (Jamaat-e- Islami).

The Kashmir Committee had met the Hurriyat leaders in Srinagar last month. The Committee also includes noted journalists Dileep Padgaonkar and M J Akbar.

PTI