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Little hope ahead of Kashmir-Delhi peace talks


NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Pro-Indian politicians from Kashmir hold talks with New Delhi on Tuesday to push for peace in the troubled Himalayan region, but with separatist groups staying away they are expected to make little progress.

The talks with Indian government leaders led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the third in a series of roundtable conferences started last year, and the first in nearly a year.

Apart from breathing new life into a process that was considered to be flagging, the talks are expected to discuss reports by experts on economic development, governance, moves to build trust and ties with Pakistani Kashmir.

"These four groups were constituted after the previous roundtable and their reports are ready," said an official in Singh's office, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media. "That is largely the agenda."

Political separatists led by the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference have declined invitations to the talks, saying the dialogue does not address the main territorial dispute and also does not involve militants fighting Indian rule there.

Separatist politicians had similarly boycotted the first two roundtable talks.

The Himalayan region, India's only Muslim-majority state, is at the heart of six decades of rivalry between New Delhi and Islamabad, both of whom claim it in full but rule it in parts.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in an insurgency in Indian Kashmir that erupted in 1989.

Although violence levels have fallen since India and Pakistan began peace talks three years ago, progress towards a final settlement of the dispute has been slow.

Some separatist groups, mainstream politicians as well as Pakistan have demanded India reduce troop levels in Kashmir, which -- with an estimated half-a-million soldiers and policemen -- is considered one of the world's most militarized regions.

While New Delhi says it is too early for such a step, it set up a panel last month to determine if it could be done.

Tuesday's meeting is expected to discuss troop cuts -- seen by many as a first step towards a final solution -- but no decision is expected.

Few in Kashmir were optimistic ahead of the talks.

"Kashmir has complexities," said Noor Ahmad Baba, head of Kashmir University's political science department. "We don't expect roundtables to resolve the issue because it does not have representation from the separatist camp and Pakistan."

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