UN says no policy change on Kashmir, hold direct dialogue to resolve issues
UN says no policy change on Kashmir, hold direct dialogue to resolve issues
Washington Feb 11 , 2021 :
The United States (UN) 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.
'' I want to be very clear there has been no change in US policy in the region,'' State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters in view of a tweet from the South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department which welcomed the resumption of 4G mobile internet in Jammu and 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.
The South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department in its message said, '' We welcome the resumption of 4G mobile internet in India's Jammu & Kashmir.
This marks a significant step for local residents and we look forward to continued political and economic progress to restore normalcy in Jammu & Kashmir.
High - speed mobile internet was restored on February 5 in the entire union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, exactly one and a half years after it was snapped in August 2019 when the Centre had abrogated the special status of the erstwhile state.
According to a 2019 Congressional Research Service report of August 2019, a longstanding goal of US policy in South Asia has been to prevent the India-Pakistan conflict from escalating to interstate war.
This meant the United States has sought to avoid actions that overtly favored either party. Over the past decade, however, Washington has grown closer to India while relations with Pakistan continue to be viewed as clouded by mistrust, CRS report said.
