Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid on Wednesday applied for the special permit to travel by the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus for a visit to Jammu and Kashmir where he planned to meet Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
"I have applied today, sought a seat on the June 15 bus. I want to go as a common citizen and Kashmiri," Rashid told Geo TV.
He said it would be a private visit being undertaken at the invitation of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik, who is currently touring Pakistan along with moderate Hurriyat leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
If granted permission, he would be travelling by the June 15 bus along with the visiting Kashmiri separatist leaders, who are scheduled to return the same day after their visit to Pakistan.
Rashid said that during his stay in Srinagar, he would meet leaders of various political groups. He would also meet Geelani, who had turned down Pakistan's invitation to visit the country and PoK.
