SRINAGAR: Reiterating that the United States wanted India and Pakistan resolve the Kashmir dispute bilaterally, the United States Tuesday regretted the Indian move to call off the talks between two foreign secretaries, describing the cancellation of a planned meeting as unfortunate.
The talks were scheduled to take place in Islamabad on 25 August, and urged both countries to improve bilateral relations.
India took the decision on Monday after Pakistans high commissioner in India, Abdul Basit, held talks with Kashmiri separatist leaders.
In comments to journalists during the daily press briefing in Washington on Tuesday, Marie Harf, Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department, said the US continued to support efforts at peace between the two South Asian countries, which have fought three of their four wars since 1947 over the disputed region of Kashmir.
It is unfortunate that planned talks between India and Pakistan have fallen through. We continue to support efforts by India and Pakistan to improve all aspects of their bilateral relations, and that is a position we will continue making clear to both parties here, Harf said.
When asked if she thought that the Pakistani government was being pressurized by the separatist groups to engage with them, Harf said: What matters now is that both sides take steps to improve their bilateral relations. Weve been very clear about that directly in conversations with both.
On the US position on the Kashmir dispute, Harf said the US was of the view that the dispute was something India and Pakistan should resolve bilaterally.
Our policy on Kashmir hasnt changed. We continue to believe that the pace and the scope and character of any discussions on Kashmir are for India and Pakistan to determine between them. That hasnt changed, and that, I think, will remain our position going forward, Harf added.
The US is keen on peace between India and Pakistan as tensions between the two countries have a fallout on the wider region, especially Afghanistan, which the US is trying to stabilize. Pakistan would like to see a friendly government in Afghanistan that it can fall back on in case of a war with India. India, on the other hand, wants a pro-India or neutral government in Kabul that will not work against Indias security interests.
India had on Monday called off day-long foreign secretary-level talks to show its strong displeasure at Pakistan inviting Kashmiri separatists for consultations to New Delhi ahead of the foreign secretaries meeting.
Pakistans high commissioner Basit had on Sunday invited Kashmiri separatist leaders Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Shabir Shah and Syed Ali Shah Geelani for consultationsan act that riled New Delhi.
According to the thinking in the Indian government, Pakistan was given a choice to engage with India or the separatists and since Pakistan chose the latter, India called off the talks that were to explore ways to bring the India-Pakistan bilateral peace dialogue, stalled for more than a year, on track.
Indias view is that Kashmir is an issue to be settled bilaterally between India and Pakistan and separatists do not have a seat at the table.
The foreign secretary talks, slated for 25 August between Indias Sujatha Singh and Pakistans Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, had been billed as talks about talks.
They were to be the first face-to-face talks between the foreign secretaries in almost two years and followed an innovative effort by the Modi government to improve ties with Indias neighboursPrime Minister Narendra Modi had invited the leaders of all South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) nations for his swearing-in on 26 May.
They were also to be a build-up for a potential meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Modi in New York next month on the sidelines of the UN general assembly session.
Some see the move to consult Kashmiri separatists as a tactic employed by Pakistan to deflect internal criticism. The Pakistan government headed by Prime Minister Sharif has been facing to pressure quit. Demanding his resignation are opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) politician Imran Khan and Canada-based activist cleric Tahir-ul Qadri. Khan says last years general election was rigged and has demanded that Sharif resign.
Thousands of Khans followers have protested in Islamabad over the past five days to press for Sharifs resignation, piling pressure on the government that won a landslide election victory a little more than a year ago.
The protests come as Pakistans armed forces wage an offensive against Taliban militants in the northwest and as the government tries to boost a flagging economy.
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