WASHINGTON: The Indian embassy here has denied press reports that union minister George Fernandes sought help of the so called Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Amanullah Khan’s help to precipitate a dialogue between the separatists and the Indian government.
In a statement the embassy clarified the Fernandes did not seek any help whatsoever from Khan, who heads a militant outfit to start a political dialogue in Kashmir.
The report was an “unfortunate distortion of the conversation” Fernandes now visiting the United States had with two correspondents of a New York News Agency, the statement said.
In response to a comment by the interviewers that Khan is saying that it is too late for a dialogue in Kashmir, the minister said that political problems had to be settled through dialogue that a continuing dialogue with the Kashmiris would produce a solution and that everyone should cooperate in that effort.
“The question of seeing Amanullah Khan’s intervention in initiating a political process did not arise at all during the minister’s conversation with the two reporters, the statement said.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 8, 1990
