Separatists continue meetings with Pakistan envoy, say Modi shouldn't have called off talks

New Delhi: It is back to square one for India and Pakistan over the Kashmir issue. If it comes down to a contest of wills, neither India nor Pakistan is blinking yet.

Pakistan's High Commissioner Abdul Basit continued to meet Kashmiri separatist leaders despite the Narendra Modi government's opposition and cancellation of Foreign Secretary-level talks.

Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani met Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit on Tuesday. He said that India shouldn't have called off the Foreign Secretary-level talks over this meeting. "Peace will be disturbed when issues are not addressed," Geelani said.

There were no comments after the meeting and no word from any of the two other Kashmiri separatist leaders who came to meet Abdul Basit. Nonetheless, they have made their position clear. "Do they want to push us towards violence by choking all the paths," asked separatist leader Yasin Malik.

There was no official comment from the Pakistani High Commission even on the relevance of these talks at this time. Even as India maintains that these meetings are an act of interference in its internal matters, the Modi government's stance is being seen as posturing, as Pakistan is more concerned over its internal issues at the moment. There were no further comments from the government, but for now, there is clearly a freeze in the relationship.