Pakistan on Sunday defended the talks between its Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar and separatist leaders from Jammu and Kashmir ahead of the talks with his Indian counterpart Shashank, which began on Sunday.

"This has been a practice that whenever any senior bureaucrat from Pakistan or any top political leader comes here, a meeting with the Kashmiri leadership is held. There is nothing surprising in that," Pakistan's foreign office spokesman Masood Khan told journalists on Sunday after the first day's talks between the two foreign secretaries. 

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"There is nothing wrong with talks, they should be expanded," Khan said, pointing out that Pakistan was also talking to leaders 'in other parts of Kashmir' while India too was talking to the Hurriyat. 

Kashmiris were the 'principal party to the dispute' and their aspirations have to be considered for a 'viable and just solution' to the Kashmir problem, he said.