Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will chair a round-table conference on Kashmir on Saturday to discuss ways and means to find a solution to the vexed issue.
The meeting, which for the first time brings together political leaders from all the three regions of the state -- Jammu, the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh -- will try and find ways to secure lasting peace in the state.
The Hurriyat Conference and other major separatist groups will boycott the conference.
Founding member of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Hashim Qureshi, who had hijacked an Indian Airlines aircraft to Lahore in 1971, will be the only separatist face at the meeting.
More than 40 political leaders, including Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, National Conference chief Omar Abdullah, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, Union Minister Saif-ud-din Soz, Congress leader Karan Singh, state Bharatiya Janata Party chief Nirmal Singh, K Chawang (Ladakh), Agnishekar, M K Kaw and Ajay Charngu (Kashmiri Pandit leaders) would be participating.
The concept of the meeting, which was earlier postponed from February 24 to 25 due to the Rail Budget, did not enthuse separatist groups.
The process of declining the invitation was set rolling by firebrand pro-Pakistan Jamaat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, followed by JKLF chief Yasin Malik and separatist leader Shabir Shah.
