অ্যাকসেসিবিলিটি লিংক

Indian PM Heads to Kashmir for Talks


Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travels to Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday for talks aimed at stopping a separatist insurgency.

Mr. Singh had hoped to bring pro-India Kashmiris and separatist Islamist leaders to the same negotiating table in Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir, for two days of talks. But moderate Kashmiri separatists are boycotting the discussions.

A suicide car bomber rammed a paramilitary vehicle on Tuesday, despite tight security, killing a soldier and wounding at least 19 people.

The talks are Mr. Singh's second effort this year to widen the dialogue process in Kashmir, where tens of thousands of people have been killed in an Islamist insurgency against Indian rule since 1989.

India and Pakistan both hold part of Kashmir, but lay claim to the entire Himalayan region. Militants have been fighting for Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan for almost two decades.

The chairman of the umbrella alliance the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, which rejected an invitation to join the peace talks, says he believes the discussions cannot produce a permanent settlement of the Kashmir problem.

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