NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is considering a one-on-one meeting with All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq ahead of a potentially fateful summit between the Jammu and Kashmir secessionist leader and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

Mirwaiz Farooq is scheduled to hold consultations next week with General Musharraf on Pakistan's new proposals for resolution of the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir — ideas which fall well short of the APHC's long-standing demand for the State's people to have the choice of acceding to Pakistan or choosing independence.

General Musharraf, who is under attack from Islamists, hopes the meeting will help legitimise his new proposals.

The Mirwaiz is scheduled to leave on January 16 for Lahore, where he will spend the night before travelling to Islamabad. Senior APHC executive members Abdul Gani Butt and Bilal Gani Lone will accompany him. Maulvi Abbas Ansari and Aga Syed Hassan also hope to travel with the Mirwaiz, but have yet to receive passports from the Government of India.

Critical voices

Policy-makers are deeply divided on the prospect of a Manmohan-Mirwaiz meeting. Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, the leading dove in the policy establishment, has pushed hard for the meeting, which he believes will ensure that the APHC is locked into the ongoing dialogue process. This, doves like him believe, will help mount pressure on terrorist groups to terminate violent operations.

Potential cost

Critics of the APHC, notably Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, have, however, warned of the potential costs of such a meeting. During his recent visit to New Delhi, Government sources said, Mr. Azad warned that such a meeting could signal to the APHC that it had a veto on the peace process.

He argued that it would push the APHC's competitors to adopt intransigent postures.

Both National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Mr. Azad are thought to believe that New Delhi needs to force the pace of dialogue with Pakistan, which unlike the APHC can compel terrorist groups to terminate the jihad in Jammu and Kashmir. During his recent meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Azad suggested that New Delhi offer joint management of water resources, tourism and trade to test Pakistan's commitment.

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