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Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani have been invited for a reception at the Pakistan High Commission during the stay of the country’s NSA Sartaj Aziz in New Delhi.

In a move that could upset the talks between National Security Advisors scheduled for August 23, 2015 the Pakistan High Commission has invited leaders of the Hurriyat to meet with Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz during his stay in Delhi. Sources confirmed that invitations have gone to key leaders of the Hurriyat, including chairperson Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani for a reception hosted by the High Commission.

Confirming that he would attend the reception after meeting with other Hurriyat members the Mirwaiz said, “We think it is important that India and Pakistan should talk. I would appeal to the media and opposition parties not to politicize our invitation from the Pakistan High Commission.”

The Mirwaiz’s comments came in response to calls by the Congress party to call off talks between the NSAs over recent ceasefire violations.

In August 2014, India had called off scheduled talks between Foreign Secretaries in Islamabad over the Pakistan High Commissioner’s meeting with Hurriyat leaders in Delhi, pointing to “new red lines” in engagement. “This is a red line we have drawn,” the MEA spokesperson had explained at the time, “We have told Pakistan — you either talk to us, or to them (Kashmiri separatists).” In an interview to The Hindu, in September 2014, Mr. Aziz had admitted that the “timing of the Hurriyat talks” could have been better. It remains to be seen whether the reaction from the government this year will be similar, given that Mr. Aziz is expected to meet the Hurriyat leaders at the reception after, and not before his scheduled talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.

However the invitation to the Hurriyat will also be seen in the context of a series of developments many inside the government sees as “provocations” from Pakistan ahead of the talks. Indian Army officials accused Pakistani troops of firing on border posts in Jammu and Poonch on Tuesday, the 10 consecutive day of ceasefire violations. In an alarming escalation of the firing, 120mm mortar shells have also reportedly been used in the firing that left six civilians dead on Independence Day last Saturday. Terrorist attacks in Gurdaspur and Udhampur last month are also being seen as an attempt to ratchet up tensions between the two countries.

The violence is accompanied by a visible raise in Pakistan’s public statements on Jammu and Kashmir over the past few months. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came under severe criticism from opposition parties after the Ufa statement between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi excluded the reference of Jammu and Kashmir.

In Srinagar, separatist Hurriyat leaders had also marked their annoyance with the exclusion by largely boycotting the Pakistan High Commission’s Eid Milan function in July. Since then Mr. Aziz has been on the forefront, insisting that “no dialogue with India” was possible “sans Kashmir”. Pakistan also declined to invite the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly speaker to a Commonwealth Parliamentary Union conference saying that the State was “disputed”, leading India to entirely cancel its attendance in protest. And in a marked departure from the past, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit gave a fiery speech at the mission’s Independence Day celebrations, claiming, “No matter how much more time their legitimate struggle takes, Pakistan will never abandon Kashmiris and their cause.”

The latest invitation to the Hurriyat will be seen as a reaffirmation that Pakistan wants to include the Kashmir resolution issue in NSA talks that are at present only mandated to discuss “all forms of terrorism.” In the past, visiting dignitaries from President Pervez Musharraf to Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries have always met the Hurriyat leadership when they come to Delhi. In September 2013, Mr. Aziz had also met them during his visit for a conference, a move then Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed had termed “insensitive” and “counterproductive”.