New Delhi: India yesterday (Sep 8, 2004) made it clear that if Pakistan thought that Hurriyat Conference was the only set of people who express the wishes of people of Kashmir then it is "on a wrong tree".

"Now, if they (Pakistan) think that this particular group of people who express the wishes of the people of Kashmir, then they are on a wrong tree," External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh told NDTV 24X7.

He said he had told Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri that Islamabad should talk to the elected Government of Jammu and Kashmir and the MPs and MLAs from the State.

Kasuri did have a long talk with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Karan Singh, two senior leaders from the State, at a dinner hosted for the Pakistani Foreign Minister by Natwar Singh, the External Affairs Minister said.

Singh made the remarks when asked if the Indo-Pak talks on Kashmir succeed without involving the Kashmiris.

"What do you mean by Kashmiris? I had told Musharraf and Kasuri that there is an elected Government in Jammu and Kashmir and there is a Chief Minister whose name is Mufti Mohed Sayeed. There are MPs and MLAs. Why don't you to talk to them?" Singh said.

Asked if US Presidential elections in November and in the event of Musharraf giving up his Army post would not make the composite dialogue between India and Pakistan Kashmir-centric, he said, "I certainly hope not."