The Kashmir issue should be resolved bilaterally by India and Pakistan, the US envoy says

Speaking to reporters, the envoy also defended the US Ambassador’s recent visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Garcetti said US delegations had also visited India’s Kashmir during their visit as part of the G20. The equivalence drawn by Garcetti has attracted some attention.

“It is not for me to respond to the US ambassador to Pakistan, but he has been there before and we obviously had part of our delegation in Jammu and Kashmir during the G20,” the US envoy told reporters at the sidelines of the 20th Indo-American Meeting. Economic Summit.

He was asked about Ambassador Donald Blome’s recent visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. According to reports, Blome visited Gilgit-Baltistan and met the Deputy Speaker of the Provincial Assembly Sadia Danish.

Blome had earlier stoked the controversy by visiting the Indian-claimed territory in 2022 and calling it AJK (Azad Jammu and Kashmir), which is the Pakistani terminology for PoK.

“During his visit, Ambassador Blome met with AJK Prime Minister Tanveer Ilyas and representatives of academics, business, culture and civil society,” the US Embassy in Islamabad had said in a press release at the time. The use of AJK had caused some controversy. in India, given the sensitivities over the status of Jammu and Kashmir, which India claims in its entirety.

On the Kashmir issue, Ambassador Garcetti stated that the United States would remain involved. “This is an issue that should be resolved between India and Pakistan and not by any third party, including the US,” he said.

This is in line with India’s stated desire for a bilateral solution to the Kashmir dispute, in accordance with the 1972 Simla Agreement. It has opposed Pakistan’s attempts to internationalize the issue by seeking to involve international organizations in the dispute to involve.

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Updated: Sep 26, 2023 7:02 PM IST