Islamabad: Pakistan today (Nov 8, 2004) dismissed as "wrong" that it was pressuring Hurriyat leaders not to talk to the Indian Government and claimed that the crossing of militants across the LoC has gone down because of its efforts.

"They got it wrong because there is no pressure from Pakistan on any leader of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesman, Masood Khan told reporters in Islamabad.

He was reacting to an Indian Home Ministry statement released in Jammu at the press conference of Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil yesterday (Nov 7, 2004), which said there were "indications that Pakistan is exerting pressure on Hurriyat Conference (A) leaders, particularly its acting President Maulvi Farooq, not to resume the dialogue with India till Pakistan is also included as a third party".

Khan said, "Prominent (Hurriyat) leaders have been saying that talks with Indian leaders without having parallel or simultaneous talks with Pakistan will have no effect or impact. Such a one-sided approach cannot produce results."

"We have to associate Kashmiris at some point. You have do ask them what they want. Therefore if Kashmiris are saying that they want to talk to Pakistan, their wishes have to be respected," he said.

Welcoming reported remarks by Shivraj Patel that Indian Government would consider requests of Hurriyat leaders to visit Pakistan for consultations with Kashmiris in Pakistan, Khan said, "We should try to enhance interaction between Kashmiris and Kashmiri leaders' interaction with Pakistani and Indian leadership."