India will attach no conditions to peace talks with Kashmir's political leaders, the home minister said on Saturday, in an attempt to resume a dialogue stalled due to new terms set by New Delhi. Shivraj Patil's comments came a day after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held his first face-to-face talks with
President Pervez Musharraf in New York to push forward a sluggish peace process that was getting stuck over Indian Kashmir.
"We attach great importance to our discussions with Hurriyat we have said that we will talk unconditionally," Patil said in an interview to the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.
"Let them say whatever they want to say, we will say whatever we have to say and we will find out on what topics we can agree," Patil said. Patil told PTI a formal invitation would be sent to Hurriyat leaders when he visits occupied Kashmir next month and added that he would be "happy to meet them" during the visit.
There was no immediate comment from Hurriyat to the change in New Delhi's position.