US officials meet Kashmir separatists ahead of Obama's India visit

To the chagrin of New Delhi, the United States is silently pushing for the "facilitator's" role on the Kashmir issue with two senior US embassy diplomats Kailash Jha and Pushpinder Dhillon holding a series of meeting with separatists.
The meetings with separatists assume significance with US president Barack Obama scheduled to visit to India in November this year.

The two US diplomats met moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq at his Srinagar's Nageen residence along with its executive members.

"The Hurriyat expressed concern over the silence of international community over the state terrorism in Kashmir. We also apprised the diplomats of the Hurriyat stand over the Kashmir dispute," said the Mirwaiz in a statement issued to the press.
The Mirwaiz also raised the issues of alleged human rights abuses and the alleged killings of 112 civilians by security forces in the last three months during his discussion with the diplomats.

The US embassy diplomats also sought audience with pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leaders, who sought American intervention in resolving the Kashmir issue.

"…the United States could impress upon both the countries to resolve the long-standing Kashmir dispute," JKLF chief Yasin Malik told the diplomats in an hour-long meeting.

Malik said Kashmiris were forced to take to guns in 1989 when the government of India used its military might to crush their non-violent movement for the right to self-determination.

"The US had played an imperative role in motivating the Kashmiris to shun the gun and start a peaceful process for the resolution of Kashmir. But India is leaving no stone unturned to suppress the aspirations of Kashmiris," said Malik.

The diplomats have refused to talk to the media and the separatists too reserved their comments on whether the diplomats met them in the backdrop of Obama's visit to India next month.
The US has been pro-Musharraf's 4-point formula in the past and has always maintained that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan. It, however, has expressed willingness to act as facilitator between the two countries.

Separatist sources told the Hindustan Times that the present stir may be prolonged till Obama's India visit to "force the US to build pressure on India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir problem".