The United States wants to see India take a rapid action on mitigating the Kashmir crisis through steps including immediate end to restrictions and release of people detained since August 5 clampdown that came with repeal of the region’s constitutionally mandated autonomy.
“We hope to see rapid action — the lifting of the restrictions and the release of those who have been detained,” Alice Wells, the acting assistant secretary of state for South Asia, underscored.
Her comments came as Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir – a UN recognized disputed territory – remained under siege of around one million forces.
“We have shared and expressed our concerns over the human rights situation in Kashmir,” she said about American contacts with Indian officials over the situation described as precarious by several Indian and international human rights bodies.
No US diplomat has been to Kashmir since Aug. 5, when New Delhi annexed the disputed territory, throwing the region into the latest standoff between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan.
In a media interaction on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session Wells also said President Donald Trump “is willing to mediate if asked by both parties.”
At the same time she acknowledged that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rejected any outside involvement in the decades-long dispute.
During his stay in New York for the annual session of 196-member UN General Assembly Trump this week met separately with Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, reiterating his offer to mediate.
Protesters in Houston demanding end to human rights violations in Kashmir, Image: Screenshot/Voice of America Video
“Fellas, work it out. Just work it out,” Trump said of his conversations with the two South Asian leaders.
“Those are two nuclear countries. They’ve got to work it out,” he added at a Press briefing.
