In a significant development, the moderate group of the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Wednesday diluted its insistence on a trilateral dialogue between India, Pakistan and Kashmiris.
"We prefer a triangular process. We met the Pakistani leadership and now we are ready to talk to the Indian Prime Minister," APHC chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq told a news conference at the conclusion of a session of APHC executive committee and general council.
"We are waiting for an invitation from the PM to take the dialogue forward. We are in touch with New Delhi through informal contacts," he said.
Mirwaiz told reporters that the people of Pakistan had expressed their support to APHC's bid to resolve the Kashmir problem.
"The people in Pakistan gave unconditional support to us without insisting on Kashmir's merger with Pakistan so that the misery and suffering of the Kashmiri people ends. Whatever the people of Kashmir decide is acceptable to Pakistanis," he said.
He said that bilateral efforts to resolve the Kashmir problem had failed and that Kashmiris needed to be part of the process without insisting on tri-partite talks.
"India, being the bigger player, has to show magnanimity to take the peace process to its logical conclusion. Kashmiris have to be part of the dialogue process. Without their involvement the problem cannot be solved."