Hurriyat leaders in Jammu and Kashmir are Indians and are free to meet representatives of Pakistan or any other foreign government, the Centre has 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," Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh told Parliament last week, in reply to a question, as reported by The Times of India.

Singh, however, clarified that there should not be any interference in bilateral talks between India and Pakistan. "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. India's displeasure at Pakistan's attempts to interfere in India's internal affairs has been repeatedly conveyed to Pakistan," he said.

This comes nearly two years after India imposed a ban on Hurriyat leaders from meeting any Pakistani officials. In August 2014, the Centre had cancelled Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan because the country's high commissioner had met Hurriyat leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, before the talks.