US rejects Pakistan call to intervene in Kashmir issue
October 23rd, 2010 - 9:54 am ICT by IANS
By Arun Kumar
Washington, Oct 23 (IANS) Rejecting Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s call to President Barack Obama to raise the Kashmir issue during his India visit, the United States has reiterated it’s a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.
“Kashmir is an issue that we believe needs to be resolved between Pakistan and India,” State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley told reporters Friday hours after Qureshi asked Obama to “redeem the pledge” he made as a candidate.
But he did not consider it inappropriate on the part of Qureshi to raise it during the just concluded US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue “focused on expanding our bilateral relationship.”
“When we get together the United States or Pakistan can bring forward any issue that it wishes,” Crowley said. “The Pakistanis have raised the issue of Kashmir with us before. This is not new.”
“Our understanding of the Pakistani view of this issue is well known,” he said. “But at the same time, the United States policy is clear: We believe that this is ultimately an issue that has to be resolved between India and Pakistan.”
Asked if the US was concerned about alleged human rights violations in Kashmir which have raised tensions between Pakistan and India, Crowley said “We obviously have great concern about the situation in Kashmir.”
The US, he said, talks “both to our Pakistani friends and our Indian friends on this issue on a regular basis” and “would like to see the situation in Kashmir resolved.”
“There is obviously too much tension and violence in Kashmir, which is why we continue to encourage both countries to resolve it through dialogue,” Crowley said.
The spokesman declined to say if India was briefed about the five-year $2 billion military assistance package for Pakistan announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Friday ignoring Indian concerns.
“We do not see this in zero-sum terms,” Crowley said. “The Indians are well aware of the support that we provide to Pakistan. Pakistan is well aware of the nature of our relationship with India.”
In high-level discussions with both countries, the US continues to provide the same message: “Our assistance to Pakistan does not come at the expense of India, and our relationship with India does not come at the expense of Pakistan.”
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
- US to Pakistan: Stop anti-India terror groups; Kashmir bilateral issue (Lead) - Oct 22, 2010
- Kashmir bilateral issue, says US - Oct 22, 2010
- No link between UNSC seat for India and Kashmir: US - Oct 01, 2010
- US welcomes India-Pakistan dialogue - Jul 16, 2010
- Pakistan asks Obama 'redeem the pledge' on Kashmir (Lead) - Oct 22, 2010
- US says aid to Pakistan no threat to India - Jul 28, 2010
- US backs constructive India-Afghanistan ties - Oct 18, 2011
- Pakistan makes no headway with US on n-deal, Kashmir - Mar 25, 2010
- US denies India tilt, asks Pakistan to tackle Haqqani Network - Sep 28, 2011
- US expresses regret to Pakistan over leaked cables (Lead) - Dec 03, 2010
- Rao to Pak: Rhetoric will not help activate dialogue process - Feb 08, 2011
- N-deal, India talks on Pakistan wish list, US non-committal - Mar 24, 2010
- US says it's building strategic ties with both India, Pakistan - Dec 03, 2010
- Pak beginning to believe supporting terrorism can pose existential threat to it: US - Oct 08, 2010
- Pakistan has to do more in fighting terror: US - Jul 29, 2010
Tags: arun kumar, assistance package, barack obama, bilateral relationship, crowley, foreign minister, hillary clinton, human rights violations, india and pakistan, india state, india visit, indian friends, kashmir, mahmood qureshi, military assistance, pakistanis, secretary of state, shah mahmood, state department spokesman, tensions