Srinagar: Kashmir is not integral part of India, it's disputed, Chairman of the hardline faction of All Parties Hurriyat (freedom) Conference (APHC), Syed Ali Shah Geelani, said on Wednesday.
"We never refuse dialogue but from March 23, 1952 more than 130 rounds of dialogues have been taken place but they were unable to provide any solution. India has to accept one basic fact that Jammu and Kashmir is not an integral part of India, it is a disputed territory," said Geelani in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, during an Eid Milan party.
"Our demand is very much genuine and based on historical facts. The people of Jammu and Kashmir must be given right to self determination so that they can decide their future whether they want to be with India or exceed to Pakistan," he added.
Reportedly, some leaders of the moderate faction of political separatist APHC conglomerate held secret talks with the country's home (Interior) minister in a sign of efforts to resume peace talks to end a decades-old insurgency in the Himalayan region.
The Hurriyat has urged New Delhi to pull out troops, release prisoners and end human rights violations before resuming peace talks.
Dialogue between the government and the separatists broke down in 2006. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offered to resume talks during a visit to Kashmir in October.
Officials say more than 47,000 have been killed in the past 20 years in the Muslim majority region, where anti-India sentiment still runs deep.
With violence down in recent years, India began withdrawing troops from Kashmir's main towns and handed over law and order to the police, giving signals they were getting ready for peace talks.
Any sign of peace talks may help reduce tension in the Himalayan region, the focus of conflict between India and Pakistan for decades.
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