Pakistan has reportedly asked Kashmiri separatist leaders to meet with its national security adviser Sartaj Aziz when the latter comes to Delhi for the NSA-level talks on 23 August.
The move is likely to escalate tensions between India and Pakistan, given that a meeting between the Pakistan high commissioner and the separatists last year had led to the cancellation of foreign secretary-level talks between the two countries.
Kashmiri separatists such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Yasin Malik and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq are likely to have dinner with the Pakistani NSA in Delhi at a "reception party", according to some news reports.
Pakistan high commissioner to India Abdul Basit has invited Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Farooq for a meeting, according to the Greater Kashmir news portal.
"Mirwaiz got a call from Pakistan embassy today evening inviting him for a meeting," a Hurriyat Conference spokesman told the portal on Tuesday.
Latest news reports suggest that the Hurriyat leaders have accepted the Pakistani invite.
However, the Pakistan NSA's dinenr with the Hurriyat leaders is not likely to derail the talks with India as it was the case in last August.
The NSA-level talks will continue as per schedule, government sources told NDTV.
The scheduled talks between Sartaj Aziz and Ajit Doval are part of the Ufa agreement made between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Russia.
The talks are expected to relieve tensions between the two nations, which have escalated in recent weeks, especially because of several civilian deaths in ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops.
