At the centre of a controversy after a disclosure that he had helped Kashmiri militants, Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed is unlikely to be allowed to travel to Kashmir on the Muzafarrabad-Srinagar bus.

Rashid, who claims to be of Kashmiri origin, had said he was applying to travel by bus to Srinagar [Images] late in June.

Well-placed sources in New Delhi said that the minister may not be given permission to travel to Jammu and Kashmir [Images], particularly after the disclosure by Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yaseen Malik in Islamabad on Sunday that Rashid had organised camps for training Kashmiri militants in the early 1990s.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Navtej Sarna on Monday said Malik's revelation was a matter of great concern.

"It is particularly serious that people directly involved in such activities continue to occupy high positions in Pakistan," Sarna said in response to a question.

Malik's comments at a meeting during an exhibition in Islamabad were reported by Pakistani newspaper Daily Times on Monday.

Malik has since changed his statement saying Malik had just provided shelter to some Kashmiris.

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