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A meeting between India and Pakistan's foreign secretaries has been canceled over the divisive issue of Kashmir, dashing hopes for reconciliation between the two nuclear-armed rivals.聽

India reacted angrily to a decision by a Pakistani diplomat to meet separatists from Indian-administered Kashmir, which has long been a sore point between the two countries. Two of India and Pakistan's three wars since independence have been fought over Kashmir. Each country controls a portion of the territory and both claim it in its entirety.

Indian media portrayed the consultation with Kashmiri leaders as Pakistan's disregard for India's reasonable wishes, even though such meetings happened regularly under previous Indian leadership. Still, others聽cast it as an extreme stance by Narenda Modi, India's prime minister, who was elected in May.聽

At his inauguration, Mr. Modi invited聽Pakistani leader Nawaz Sharif to New Delhi, raising hopes of d茅tente under Modi's nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which is seen as having the conservative credentials to reach out to its rival.聽

The New York Times recaps聽the breakdown of talks Monday:

The Hurriyat Conference is made up of separatist leaders in India-controlled Kashmir. According to the Times, Pakistani envoys met with its representatives in the past and India had gradually become more tolerant of such meetings.

The Indian News Agency Times News Network pinned the blame squarely on Pakistan:

Siddharth Varadarajan, a senior fellow at the Center for Public Affairs and Critical Theory at Shiv Nadar University, calls the decision an "overreaction."聽Writing for Indian television station NDTV, he said such meetings between Kashmir separatists and Pakistani representatives ahead of bilateral meetings were "pro-forma."

Mr.聽Varadarajan argues that by canceling the meeting, Modi strengthened the hand of Pakistani hardliners who are opposed to an improvement in relations with India:

The Indian National Congress party, bumped from leadership in the May election,聽lashed out at Modi and his party for the cancellation, The Hindu reports. Leader聽Manish Tewari聽said the government has 鈥渃ompletely walked itself into a corner鈥� by canceling the talks, calling the meeting between the separatists and the Pakistani envoy a 鈥渞itual."

Last week Modi聽made a rare visit to the disputed territory聽and vowed to bolster India's security forces there. He also accused Pakistan of fighting a "proxy war," using militants to destabilize India.