Sajjad Lone

SRINAGAR: Accepting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's invitation to the People's Conference led by Sajjad Lone, the party's executive on Tuesday decided to send a five-member delegation to Delhi to hold talks.

Confirming the invitation, Mr. Lone told The Hindu that his party had welcomed the decision of the UPA Government to broaden the scope of dialogue on Kashmir. "It is a healthy development. We discussed the issue in our working committee today and have decided to constitute a five-member delegation to hold the talks," said Mr. Lone, who will lead the delegation. The other members will be nominated on January 12.

Asked about the agenda of the talks, he said, "We are aware of our drawbacks but we will give our inputs." "Dialogue is the only way to resolve any issue and any delay in this process will further worsen the situation in Kashmir." He said it was time to consolidate the process.

Mr. Lone said that he would not "beat about the bush, but we will give an analytical, academic and a sincere Kashmiri viewpoint to the Indian Government." He claimed that his party had a roadmap on Kashmir.

Mr. Lone is the first Kashmiri leader other than the moderate Hurriyat Conference leaders, who has been invited for talks by New Delhi.

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