US says no policy change on Kashmir

Surjit Kumar Dhal Washington, Aug 9: The US has said that there is no change in its policy on Kashmir as it called on India and Pakistan to maintain restraint and hold direct dialogue to resolve their differences.

            “No”, replied State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus when asked by reporters on Thursday if there has been any change in America’s policy on Kashmir.

The US policy has been that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and it is up to the two countries to decide on the pace and scope of the talks on the issue.

“And if there was, I certainly wouldn’t be announcing it here, but no, there’s not,” Ortagus said in response to a follow up question.

She said the United States supports dialogue between India and Pakistan over Kashmir and mentioned that a senior State Department official would be in New Delhi next week on a pre-scheduled visit.

“It’s something that we’ve called for calm and restraint by all parties. We want to main peace and stability, and we, of course, support direct dialogue between India and Pakistan on Kashmir and other issues of concern,” Ortagus said.

India had on Monday revoked provisions of Article 370 to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, and bifurcating the state into two union territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Reacting to India’s move, Pakistan expelled the Indian High Commissioner as part of its decision to downgrade the diplomatic ties with New Delhi. Pakistan also announced that it will review all “bilateral arrangements” with India.

India has maintained that Jammu and Kashmir is its integral part and the issue of withdrawing special status to the state and its bifurcation are strictly internal to the country.

New Delhi has consistently asserted that there is no room for a third party mediation on Kashmir. India’s stand was reiterated after US President Donald Trump last month offered to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

Ortagus also said the US was working closely with the two South Asian countries.

“We have a lot of engagement with India and Pakistan. Obviously, we just had Prime Minister (Imran) Khan here, not just because of Kashmir. That’s certainly an incredibly important issue and something that we follow closely. But we have a host of issues that we work with India on quite closely and that we work with Pakistan on quite closely,” she said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Bangkok last week.