*WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Dr Asad Majeed Khancalled on the Trump administration to help ease tensions after Indiarevoked autonomy of Kashmir.*
In an interview with *Bloomberg Markets: The Close*link,Khan said the US and only the US could do and must do more to help defusethe situation in Kashmir, and to inject some sanity on the Indian side.
“Kashmir even according to India’s own constitution has enjoyed a specialstatus. What India has done is to unilaterally change the status of theterritory which is recognised by the entire international communityincluding the United Nations as a disputed territory and we as a party tothat dispute have a serious issue with what India has done,” the envoy said.
He continued, “The consequences of India’s action has led to a lock-down inthe region and India actually has its troops present in the valley, turningthe whole valley into the largest prison in the world with about 12 millionpeople watched by troops and we are concerned about it.”
Responding to a question about Pakistan’s response on the situation, theambassador said, “The world saw our restraint even during the Pulwamacrisis where India violated our sovereignty and sent aircraft to bomb ourside of the territory, even in the face of that kind of aggression ourresponse was very measured.”
“Our response was dictated by restraint. Our prime minister was here on avisit to the US and consistently spoke about Pakistan’s desire for peace. Ithink we remain committed to that but essentially I think what is reallyimportant is that this escalation we are seeing on India’s side needs to bede-escalated for the two countries to engage in dialogue.”