New Delhi, Nov. 14: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the ground for his Jammu and Kashmir visit with the decision to cut down on troops, but he may have to return without meeting the Hurriyat Conference leadership.

Efforts to arrange an ice-breaking courtesy call by the Hurriyat have come to nought, with separatist leaders in the Valley sending clear signals to the government that the peace road to Delhi is through Islamabad.

Sources said the Hurriyat has not given any indication of a comedown from its declared stand that talks with the United Progressive Alliance government would start only after its leaders visit Pakistan.

The Hurriyat had made a similar demand before the first round of talks with L.K. Advani, when he was deputy Prime Minister, but later agreed to put it off.

Officials associated with the Hurriyat-Advani talks say the NDA government intended to clear the trip to Pakistan after the third round of talks scheduled in June this year that was expected to see the two sides graduate to discussing ?substantial issues?.

It was argued that the Hurriyat, which was in contact with Pakistan and the ISI, could not harm Indian interests any more than it had already done.

However, there is a crucial difference in the Hurriyat?s stand now.

While the proposed Pakistan visit during the NDA regime was part of the dialogue process, this time it has practically made Pakistani leaders party to the talks.

This had prompted home minister Shivraj Patil to delink the talks from the Pakistan trip. He had declared in Srinagar that the government might not have a problem with the visit if an application was sent following proper procedure.

Officials say a view is emerging in the security establishment that once the government has declared that the door is open for anyone to hold a dialogue, it should not focus too much on persuading the Hurriyat to restart talks. There is a message in the Hurriyat flying down to Delhi to meet Pakistani leaders even as they refuse to meet the Indian Prime Minister, an official said.

National security adviser J.N. Dixit had criticised the separatist leaders? ?high-horse spirit? when acting Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umer Farooq came to the capital to meet the Pakistan high commissioner, but not the home minister.

With the leaders of the Hurriyat and other outfits set to land here for a joint meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, officials said it could set the tone for another attempt at unifying the separatists.

Shabir Shah, the chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Party, had told reporters in Jammu recently that the state leadership must adopt a united stand to convert consensus into public opinion and find a peaceful solution to the Kashmir conflict.