London: After having cold-shouldered Home Minister Shivraj Patil during his Kashmir visit, the Hurriyat Conference now says it is ready to talk to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Jammu and Kashmir this week.

"Definitely we would sit and talk if invited. If the Indian Prime Minister wants to take any initiative towards the political solution to the Kashmir problem, we would seriously consider it," Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Omer Farooq said in a BBC Hindi programme last night (Nov 14 2004).

"We have decided if any invitation is extended, we would sit and talk, but at the same time we want to make it clear that since two rounds of talks have already taken place with the Indian Government, when NDA (National Democratic Alliance) was in power, it is important now that the Government of India permits the Hurriyat leaders to visit Pakistan, and then the process of talks would be really meaningful," Mirwaiz Farooq said.

Asked whether they had any hopes from Singh's two-day visit to the State from Wednesday (Nov 17, 2004), the Hurriyat leader said, "If the visit is only for an economic package, like giving money for schools and other buildings, then it would serve no purpose. It would give Kashmiris a feeling that the Indian Government wants to buy them over.

"However, if the Prime Minister has something new to offer to take the peace process forward, and if he is to announce some Confidence Building Measures, which would help towards the political solution, like the release of innocent people languishing in jails since many years, an end to human rights violations, then Hurriyat would certainly welcome it. His recent announcements give hope, but further work needs to be done."

Asked whether the Central Government has already made any offer to it, Mirwaiz Farooq said, "Nothing has come from Indian Government so far. It has been only through media and that too when the Home Minister visited Kashmir, but there is nothing concrete. Talking is fine, but where are the passports for the Hurriyat leaders to go to Kashmir (PoK)?"

Asked why the Hurriyat has been keeping away from the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Government so far, the Hurriyat leader said, "When the Congress-led Government took over at the Centre, we felt that Congress had a moral responsibility towards Kashmir, because it can be said that it is Congress which is responsible for the birth of the Kashmir issue or made it an issue, from the times of Pandit Nehru to Indira Gandhi.

"Therefore, we had a feeling, the Congress-led Government would deal with this important and sensitive issue with all seriousness. Initially there was a lot of confusion, with statements from Delhi saying talks would be within the framework of the Constitution, and then talks could be unconditional and subsequently that there is no use talking to Hurriyat. But the latest developments give hope."

Asked what led Hurriyat to talk to the previous NDA Government and stay away from the present Government, Mirwaiz Farooq said, "We went to talk to L K Advani in his capacity as the Deputy Prime Minister and not as Home Minister. Our agreement with the NDA was on three points, first, talks on Kashmir would be unconditional, second both sides would look for a solution seriously, and thirdly, Pakistan would be included in the talks at some stage."