India does not need third-party mediation in resolving its dispute with Pakistan over the Kashmir issue, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in the wake of US proposals to step in to help the two conflicting nuclear powers
NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st October, 2019) India does not need third-party mediation in resolving its dispute with Pakistan over the Kashmir issue, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in the wake of US proposals to step in to help the two conflicting nuclear powers.
Last week, US President Donald Trump said that on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York he had offered his mediation efforts to the leaders of India and Pakistan.
"India has been clear for 40 odd years that we would not accept mediation ... and that whatever has to be discussed has to be discussed unilaterally," Jaishankar said at a press conference after a meeting with US State Secretary Mike Pompeo.
India and Pakistan have fought for control over the Kashmir region the southern part of which lies in India's Jammu and Kashmir state since the end of British rule in 1947.
These tensions increased in August when India revoked the special status of the Jammu and Kashmir state and divided it into two union territories that would be under the government's control. Pakistan reacted angrily to India downgrading the status of the Muslim-majority region and promised to protect Kashmiris. Islamabad then expelled the Indian ambassador, halted bilateral trade and promised to raise the issue with the International Court of Justice.
