'India, Pakistan Only Two Stakeholders In Kashmir Issue'

Basit said his meeting with the Hurriyat leaders was "to find a viable solution to the Kashmir issue". "It was in the larger context of exploring peaceful means towards resolving the issue. This has been a long standing practice, I have nothing more to add to this," Basit said.

"Kashmiris are legitimate stakeholders in finding a peaceful solution to the issue. We had been meeting Kashmiri leaders for the past 20 years. The objective of this interaction is to engage all stakeholders in order to find a viable, peaceful solution to the problem," Basit said in an interaction at the Foreign Correspondents Club.

Basit also stressed on the need to look at the Kashmir issue "dispassionately and in a more realistic manner". Basit met hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and moderate leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, a day after India called off foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan over the issue.

He also met Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Mohammad Yasin Malik. In Islamabad, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said Pakistan was "not subservient to India. It is a sovereign country and a legitimate stakeholder in the Jammu and Kashmir dispute".

Aslam also asserted that "Kashmir is not part of India. It is a disputed territory". India called off the foreign secretary-level talks scheduled for Aug 25 over Basit holding talks with Kashmiri separatist leaders despite Islamabad being asked not to.

Pakistan described the decision to cancel the talks as a setback to its efforts to promote good neighbourly relations.

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