New Delhi: Questioning the importance being given by Pakistan to separatist Hurriyat leaders, India has said there was "something fundamentally wrong" with Islamabad's understanding of realities in Jammu and Kashmir and hoped that this would not be an "irritant" in bilateral ties.

Spotlight: Kashmir is NOT negotiable

"In my opinion if they (Pakistan) think that only Hurriyat represents the people of Kashmir, then there is something fundamentally wrong with their understanding of realities in J&K," External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh told Karan Thapar on CNBC programme 'Tonight at 10'.

He was asked whether Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz inviting leaders of Hurriyat factions during his visit to New Delhi and having a marathon meeting with them amounted to interference in India's internal affairs.

"No, I don't think they are interfering in the internal affairs. But in my own view, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the same thing, that they are being unrealistic," he said.

Natwar Singh said the Government did not mind Pakistani leaders meeting Hurriyat factions and hoped this would not be an irritant in relations between the two countries.

He said the Hurriyat was not willing to talk to the Government "but they are willing to talk to the other side".

He pointed out that the Prime Minister had invited Karan Singh, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti for the lunch he hosted for his Pakistani counterpart and had told the visiting leader "you want to meet the representatives of people of Kashmir, here they are."

On the Pakistan Premier's contention that Islamabad was unlikely to grant Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India unless Kashmir issue itself was resolved, Natwar Singh said "this is one element which is coming in the way of the gas pipeline (between India and Iran via Pakistan) going through".

India, he said, hoped that it would be able to persuade Pakistan "because if this is the conditionality, then you cannot move forward."

When asked if it will be a "full stop" if this was the conditionality, he said "On this issue, yes."

Observing that Aziz's meetings with Indian leaders "went off well", Singh described the Pakistan Premier as "well informed, very articulate, distinguished banker and one who has facts on his fingertips".

Asked about the verbal cross-fire following Musharraf's suggestion that some zones of Kashmir on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) could be delimitarised, granted independence or kept under joint control or UN mandate, he said the "misunderstanding" has been cleared with Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri saying these were ideas meant for internal debate in Pakistan.

Singh felt that Musharraf's proposal "in some ways is quite daring" as it did not mention plebiscite, UN resolutions, or speak about the wishes of the Kashmiri people---a line often taken by Pakistan. "It was interesting", he said.

He said during the talks, the Prime Minister made it clear that he did not have the mandate of the people to redraw the country's map or a second partition. Within these parametres, New Delhi was willing to discuss anything.