US looks meaningful Indo-Pak dialogue on Kashmir issue: State Department

In what appeared to be an optimistic statement for Kashmiris, the United States has said that it wants to see purposeful talks between Pakistan and India on Kashmir issue.

During a media briefing, US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said that the recent improvement in bilateral relations of the two neighboring countries should lead to a meaningful dialogue on Kashmir dispute.

The recent statement came after Pakistan raised the issue forcefully at the United Nations General Assembly when President Asif Ali Zardari characterized the dispute as a failure of the UN system.

She noted, “On the broader issue of Kashmir, as I said, we want to see this economic warming now translate into a better conversation on that issue as well.”

The spokesperson further said that there was no change in Washington’s policy on Kashmir, which was recognized by the UN as a dispute. “With regard to our own policy on Kashmir, it hasn’t changed. “It’s been the same for a very long time,” she added.

Making it clear, she said that the US considered the region to be a disputed territory and it wanted the two nearing states to resolve the issue through dialogue.

She stated, “We have said for some time that we applaud the progress that India and Pakistan have made in their dialogue, particularly on the economic side. We are encouraged that they’ve taken some concrete steps to normalize trade relations, including the recently-signed agreement on visa liberalization.”

The State Department spokesperson further added that they wanted to see this economic warming extend to other areas, particularly the disputed ones.

Experts believe that Nuland’s remarks seemed to be similar to those of Islamabad, which has been engaging with New Delhi on trade and economic cooperation but has also been calling for progress on Kashmir and other security-related issues.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Oct 5 2012. Filed under Pakistan, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.