In an affidavit filed in the Delhi high court, Kashmiri separatist Yasin Malik said he had met former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who expressed his gratitude for Malik’s time and efforts in meeting Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan.

Yasin Malik, who was then the commander-in-chief of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Force, stated that he met Hafiz Saeed in 2006, according to the affidavit mentioned in an earlier HT report.

The affidavit, which was submitted on August 25, includes details of Malik’s reported meetings with former prime ministers, Union ministers, foreign diplomats, senior Intelligence Bureau officials, and others linked with the government’s efforts to bring peace in Jammu and Kashmir.

Malik said he met Hafiz Saeed at the direction of senior IB officials in India. Hafiz Saeed is a designated terrorist and accused of masterminding several terror attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed many people.

Malik also said that he was invited for a meeting by former prime minister Manmohan Singh in February 2006, where Singh assured him of efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue.

“In February 2006, I was invited by PM Manmohan Singh in New Delhi for a formal dialogue….During the meeting, the Indian premier told me that India was trying hard to resolve the Kashmir issue…PM Manmohan Singh told me. “Be assured, Mr. Malik, I want to resolve this issue,” the earlier HT report quoted Yasin Malik's affidavit.

According to Malik, he met Hafiz Saeed on the instructions of the IB as part of efforts for peace and later briefed Manmohan Singh about the meeting.

Malik said he had informed the trial court that his visit to Pakistan was to provide humanitarian aid and relief after the earthquake, and during the trip, he was specifically asked to meet Hafiz Saeed and other militant leaders in Pakistan.

“I was specifically requested for this meeting with Hafiz Saeed and other militant leaders of Pakistan…When I returned to New Delhi from Pakistan…I met PM Manmohan Singh the same evening…I briefed him on my meetings," Yasin Malik said.

He added that Manmohan Singh thanked him for holding those meetings.

"He [Manmohan Singh] conveyed his gratitude to me for my efforts, time, patience and dedication. But as luck would have it, this meeting of mine with Hafiz Saeed and other militant leaders of Pakistan, which was initiated and executed only on the request of special director IB VK Joshi, was portrayed in a different context against me,” Yasin Malik wrote in the affidavit.

Malik also stated in the affidavit that he had met former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He recalled that during his first meeting in 1995 with Vajpayee, who was then the leader of the opposition, he raised questions about killings in Kashmir.

“When I first met Atal Bihari Vajpayee (post my release in 1994), when he was the leader of the opposition in 1995. I was a young boy, your country had promised us to give us democratic rights, but when we asked for it, your forces are killing our people. In return, his reply was so polite, he replied –– Yasin ji, kaache dhaage kaa hee sahi, hamare saath koi naa koi rishta zaroor rakhen (even if it is a fragile thread, do stay connected with us), and this had disarmed me [sic].”

On August 11, the National Investigation Agency sought the death penalty for Malik in a terror funding case. The court gave him four weeks to respond and scheduled the matter for November 10.

The government has alleged that Malik, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022, was involved in activities that threatened India’s sovereignty and had close links with militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.

Yasin Malik is currently lodged in Tihar Jail.