SCO summit opportunity for India, Pak to break ice, resolve issues: Hurriyat Conference

Srinagar: The Hurriyat Conference on Wednesday said the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan is an opportunity for prime ministers of India and Pakistan to break the ice and move towards resolving their outstanding issues.

The SCO will hold its first in-person summit in Samarkand in Uzbekistan on Thursday after two years. This is the first time after the Covid pandemic that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will be attending the two-day summit.

In a statement, the Hurriyat Conference said, “As Indian and Pakistani prime ministers will be in Samarkand…it is an opportunity to break the ice in their relationship and talk to each other and move forward in resolving their differences including the settlement of the Kashmir conflict.”

The amalgam alleged that the situation in Kashmir was volatine since the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into Union territories in August 2019.

It demanded the release of all political prisoners, rights activists, youths and journalists jailed in different parts of the country. It also sought release of Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq “who is under house detention since August 2019”.