India has never supported separatist leaders of Gilgit Baltistan: Says Indian security expert

Abdul Hamid Khan, Chairman BNF

Indian security expert Alok Bansal has said that unlike Pakistan, India has never supported Pakistan’s separatist leaders to its embassy in Islamabad.

Reacting on Pakistani embassy’s invitation to Kashmiri separatists in New Delhdi, he said "As far as I know, Indian embassy never invite the nationalist leader of Kashmir in Pakistan for talks, neither does it support them”.

"A nationalist leader, who has been raising his voice for a long time now for the rights of people in Gilgit-Baltistan, in Islamabad today is on the verge of dying, but India has never supported him", he said.

He blamed Kashmiri separatists of frequently visiting Pakistani embassy in India and receiving money. “In India, these people (the separatists) come to Pakistani embassy time and again to fetch money," he said.

According to Reuters, Pakistan's High Commissioner Abdul Basit's invitation to Kashmiri separatist leaders in New Delhi, ahead of India-Pakistan secretary level talks scheduled to be held on August 25 in Islamabad, drew flak.

The talks between separatist leaders and Basit will take place on August 18-19.

Manzoor Parwana, Chairman GBUM

Criticising the move by Basit, leader of opposition Congress party, Manish Tewari, blamed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for sitting mute against Pakistan.

"The High Commissioner of Pakistan in India gives invitation to separatists, the army of Pakistan infiltrates into our territory, the ISI and the groups that are associated with it attack our embassy in Heart in Afghanistan, and this government is completely mute. Before May 26, when this government was in opposition, it used to criticise us and make big promises (about good governance in its rule)," said Tewari.

Peace in Kashmir, which India and Pakistan claim in full but rule in part, is crucial to resolving differences between the nuclear-armed foes who are trying to restart a peace process that New Delhi broke off in 2008 after the Mumbai attacks.

Shafqat Inqelabi, leader of BNF

New Delhi accuses Pakistan of aiding and funding separatists and militants, a charge Islamabad denies.

Militants have been frequently attacking security bases in Kashmir since the 1990s, when there was a full-blown insurgency against Indian rule in a region over which India and Pakistan fought two of their three wars.

The Himalayan region is one of the world's most militarised zones, with India deploying more than 1.3 million troops to quell the rebellion that triggered off in 1989.

In 1999 Pakistan-backed irregular troops crossed into the Kargil sector in northern Kashmir and occupied bunkers along a vast swath of the Line of Control, prompting a massive Indian air and ground offensive to repel them.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in two decades of anti-India insurgency in Muslim-majority Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan by a ceasefire line monitored by the United Nations.