Hardline Kashmiri separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Farooq and Yasin Malik have been invited by the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi for the annual 23 March Pakistan Day dinner reception.
Sohail Mehmood, who replaced Abdul Basit as the Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India in August 2017, is heading the charge of sending out the invites.
It has become a ritual for Pakistan to invite separatist leaders every year to attend the ‘Pakistan Day’ event at its High Commission in the national capital, provoking outrage from India.
After similar resentment from India over the attendance of senior separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Abdul Ghani Bhat at the Pakistan Day dinner last year, Minister of State for external affairs General VK Singh, in a written reply to a parliament question, said:
Since the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the Union of India and these so-called Kashmiri ‘leaders’ are Indian citizens, there is no bar on their meetings with representatives of any country in India. However, India has consistently maintained that there is no role for a third party in the bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan as per the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration.
The letter also mentioned, “India’s displeasure at Pakistan’s attempts to interfere in India’s internal affairs has been repeatedly conveyed to Pakistan.”
While Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar was the chief guest at the dinner in 2016, VK Singh held court in 2015.
In 2017, the guest list for the Pakistan Day event included Hurriyat (M) leaders Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Gani Lone, Masroor Abbas, and Musadiq Adil, among others.
Pakistan Day is celebrated every year on 23 March, commemorating the Lahore Resolution passed on 23 March 1940, calling for independent states.
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