Manmohan to meet Hurriyat next week

Singh will hold talks with representatives of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, a conglomerate of two dozens Kashmiri separatist groups, on May 3, an official statement said.

The meeting precedes Singh's planned round-table in Srinagar later the same month.

The talks are being seen as an ice-breaker after the Hurriyat decided to stay away from the first attempt at an inclusive dialogue, held in New Delhi in February.

The group reasoned that the government had not done enough to improve the lives of Kashmiris.

Hurriyat leaders have not committed themselves to attending the Srinagar conference.

"Hurriyat is for talks," its leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, told Reuters. "When we started the talks two years ago, it was supposed to be a continuous process."

He said that next week's meeting with the prime minister "should not be linked" to the proposed talks in Srinagar. "We are not against the round-table but we will not be part of a crowd," he said.