Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, who led the 5-member All Party Hurriyat Conference delegation that held a two and a half hour-long meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday, admitted that the talks had gone beyond his expectations and expressed hope that the process of dialogue between APHC and the government would continue once Dr Singh returned to India after attending the United Nations general assembly meeting next week.
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Speaking to rediff.com on late Monday, Mirwaiz said the talks were good and held in condusive atmosphere.
"I must admit that we are excited about the talks. It has gone beyond our expectations. It looks that now we are on the right track," he said.
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He said that the talks between the 2 sides were wide ranging and all issues related to the state of Jammu and Kashmir were discussed.
"We had prepared for a shorter meeting but it carried on for two and a half hours. It was a pleasure meeting Dr Singh. The prime minister admitted that the problem of Jammu and Kashmir was a political one and it should be resolved politically," he claimed.
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"We hope that discussions would continue once prime minister comes back after attending UN general assembly meeting in New York next week. We also realize that the talks at the prime minister level would not be held all the time and hence we would have to form a committee that would carry on the job later on. The prime minister has offered to review all cases of POTA detainees and those held under public safety act, and this work should begin in right earnestness," he said.