Separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani refuses Pakistan High Commission's invite for Id Milan celebrations

New Delhi: Separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Tuesday refused Pakistan High Commission's invite for Id Milan celebrations on July 21. Geelani said he won't go for the event because Pakistan had sidelined Kashmir in recent joint statement of Indo-Pak.

The Pakistan High Commission had invited Kashmiri separatists and Hurriyat leaders to Delhi for Id Milan.

Defending the move, the Pakistan High Commission on Monday issued a statement, saying, "There is nothing unusual about our invite to Hurriyat leaders. The hype being created by some is unfortunate, to put it mildly. Pakistan will continue extending its full moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their legitimate struggle for self determination as provided for in the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

The separatists had expressed "disappointment" over the joint statement by the Indian and Pakistan prime ministers. They said the statement has come as a "disappointment" for the people of Kashmir and that their meeting in Russia was in keeping with "diplomatic compulsion".

"We did not expect any breakthrough from the meeting. It was just a diplomatic compulsion for the prime ministers of the two countries," Ayaz Akbar, spokesman of the hardline Hurriyat, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, had said.

He had said that instead of such meetings, where a wide range of issues are discussed, the two countries should focus on the core issue of Kashmir.

"Our stand is clear; they (India, Pakistan) should both concentrate on the core issue and resolve Kashmir. Till Kashmir issue is addressed, such talks will be futile. They will be disappointing," he had said.