Prime Minister Manmohan Singh opened talks Saturday with representatives from Kashmir, the Associated Press reported. The meeting was an attempt to tackle the long-standing dispute over Indian-controlled Kashmir, where a separatist Islamic insurgency since 1989 has killed more than 67,000 people. "This is a dialogue of equals who promise to work together," Singh said at the closed-door talks, according to a statement from his office. The one-day meeting brought together rival political parties and representatives of different ethnic and regional groups mostly content with Indian rule, but the All Party Hurriyat Conference _ an umbrella body of separatist groups _ refused to attend. "This is an attempt to hoodwink the international community and especially to show the United States and President (George W.) Bush that the Indians are keen on the (peace) process. The reality is something different," said Syed Ali Shah Geelani, head of the Hurriyat Conference. Omar Abdullah, the head of Kashmir's main opposition National Conference party, said the boycott by the separatists was "a setback." "The dispute is between New Delhi and the separatists. The separatist are important in Jammu and Kashmir and the prime minister should start new efforts to talk to them," Abdullah told reporters before the meeting.
