Monday, July 4 2005 10:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Srinagar: Talks between the Centre and the Hurriyat's moderate faction would recommence as soon as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decides the dates, senior leader of the conglomerate Abdul Gani Bhat said yesterday (July 3, 2005).

"We are ready for talks, as dialogue is the key to resolution of the Kashmir issue. As soon we contact our Chairman (Umer Farooq), we will go for the talks," the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (JKMC) President said.

They had expressed willingness to hold the deliberations but "it is up to the Prime Minister to convey the date for the talks," Bhat said.

The moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, which held two rounds of talks with then Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani last year, had insisted on visiting Pakistan and PoK before parleying with the Congress-led UPA government.

Bhat denied that the Hurriyat visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir last month was to put their stamp on the agreement between India and Pakistan. "There is no truth in these reports," he said adding that the aim of the visit was to ascertain the opinion of the Pakistan government and its people as well as the leaders of PoK and its people on the Kashmir issue.

He also dismissed reports about the visit being a failure. "It was a warm-up match... when we have not played the match, how can we be declared the runner-up," he said.

Bhat claimed that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf told the Hurriyat delegation he had a "complete understanding" with PM Manmohan Singh.

In an oblique reference to hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Bhat said, "some people want resolution of the Kashmir issue by India and Pakistan before other issues are settled but a congenial atmosphere has to be created first".

"We want trade to be resumed, routes to be opened, people-to-people contact and the talks simultaneously," he said.

On Geelani not being part of the tour, he claimed Musharraf told them that those who had not gone there were not "representatives of the people". He also sought to deflect India's official criticism about Pakistan allowing the delegation to visit there without passports. "It could not have been possible if there was no understanding" between the two countries, Bhat claimed.