RESPONDING to the call by the BJP and some other parties to boycott the tea party hosted by the Pakistan high commission if the Hurriyat leaders are invited to the function, a CPI(M) spokesman said on July 9, 2001:

"The question of Hurriyat attending the tea party is a non-issue. Earlier the union government was even prepared to allow a Hurriyat delegation to visit Pakistan. So the talk of boycott is incorrect."