India today said it has advised Pakistan that it would not be appropriate for Sa

rtaj Aziz to meet with the Kashmiri separatists. "Such a meeting would not be in
keeping with the spirit and intent of the Ufa understanding to jointly work to
combat terrorism," said the foreign ministry.
After Pakistan spoke about raising Kashmir in the talks, the foreign ministry to
day also said: "We have also sought confirmation of our proposed agenda for the
NSA level talks that was conveyed to the Pakistani side on 18 Aug 2015."
On Thursday morning, three Kashmiri separatists were placed under house arrest i
n Srinagar but were released within two hours. The two-hour detention was descri
bed by government sources as a signal that "the separatists cannot be a third pa
rty to talks," and they can be detained if they try to meet the Pakistani delega
tion.
The separatists, Yasin Malik, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, hav
e been invited to a reception in Delhi for Pakistan National Security Adviser Sa
rtaj Aziz, who will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.
Asserting that India would not allow any meeting between the separatists and the
Pakistani delegation, sources told NDTV: "If Sartaj Aziz wants to call off talk
s, so be it."
Pakistan's response was to emphasize that it doesn't care for India's red lines,
and that talking to separatists has always been its policy. "We are firm on the
invite to the Hurriyat (separatists) to our reception. So called Indian red lin
es will not dictate Pakistan's agenda," Pakistan government sources told NDTV.
In what could stir more trouble, foreign office spokesperson Qazi Khalilulah sai
d Mr Aziz would "raise all issues including Kashmir."
"We will not be browbeaten on Kashmir. The so-called Indian red lines will not d
ictate Pakistan agenda," Pakistan government sources told NDTV.
Demonstrating an aggressive stance on Kashmir, Pakistan also cancelled a Commonw
ealth Parliamentary Conference after refusing to invite the Jammu and Kashmir as
sembly speaker as demanded by India.
India called off talks last July after Pakistan consulted Kashmiri separatists b
efore a meeting of Foreign Secretaries. A year later, Prime Minister Narendra Mo
di and Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif met on the sidelines of a conference in Uf
a, Russia, and agreed to restart talks as part of several breakthrough announcem
ents.