Srinagar: The separatist Hurriyat Conference on April 19 welcomed the hand of friendship extended by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to Pakistan and said it would meet soon to discuss his remarks.

"Hurriyat Conference will be meeting in a few days to discuss Vajpayee's press conference," Hurriyat Chairman Abdul Ghani Bhat said.

Bhat said the 25-party conglomerate would be taking up the issue of talks offer with "caution and calculation".

Asked whether Hurriyat would meet the Centre's interlocutor on Kashmir N N Vohra, who is arriving here on April 21, Bhat said, "Let him finish meeting the elected representatives of Jammu and Kashmir. By then, Hurriyat Conference will decide on its next course of action."

On the hand of friendship extended by Vajpayee to Pakistan, he said, "It will be good if India, Pakistan and the representatives of Jammu and Kashmir start negotiating to resolve the long-pending Kashmir issue. It will be a big change for the better."

Bhat said the two countries would have to appreciate the changes across the globe, rise to the occasion and start a serious and sincere dialogue with a view to ensuring nuclear peace as well as a brighter future for the coming generation in the South Asian region.

PTI