New Delhi: Pakistan Wednesday summoned the US Charge d’Affaires Natalie Baker and lodged a strong protest over comments made by Sergio Gor, the American envoy to New Delhi who declared earlier in the day that Jammu and Kashmir is an “important part” of India.
“The U.S. Charge d’ Affaires in Islamabad was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today and a strong demarche was lodged over the factually incorrect remarks of U.S. Ambassador to India, regarding the status of Jammu and Kashmir, during his visit to Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan strongly condemned and categorically rejected the characterisation of Jammu and Kashmir as a “part of India”,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan said in a statement
The statement added: “It was underscored that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognised disputed territory, awaiting final disposition in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.”
The Pakistan foreign ministry went on to add that Gor’s comments “negated” the long-standing position of the US and was “irresponsible”.
Islamabad, which has been courting US President Donald J. Trump in the last year, added that it “appreciates” his efforts and offer to mediate the Kashmir issue.
Earlier Wednesday, during a visit to Srinagar, Gor had said that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is an important part of India, while adding that the US is reevaluating its travel advisory for American citizens to travel to Jammu and Kashmir, given the security offered by both the UT administration and the Government of India.
The visit is Gor’s first to Jammu and Kashmir and the first standalone visit by an American ambassador since 2018. Gor met with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, marking the first time a US envoy has met with a sitting chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir since 2011.
The US has maintained that the solution to the Jammu and Kashmir issue must be resolved bilaterally, and has offered to mediate in the past.
Trump in July 2019 offered to mediate, stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was keen on such a situation, before the State Department backtracked and said that the issue must be resolved bilaterally between India and Pakistan.
Last year, following the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the two countries will meet at a neutral venue to discuss Jammu and Kashmir, a claim which was quickly rejected by New Delhi.
Ever since the Simla Agreement was signed in 1972, and later the Lahore Declaration of 1999, India has maintained that the issue will be resolved bilaterally, taking the situation away from the aegis of the United Nations.
In 1948, the United Nations through Security Council Resolution 47 had recommended a three-step process to resolve the situation, which included demilitarisation of the territory followed by a plebiscite. India has maintained that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India, while Pakistan continues to illegally occupy parts of its territory.
A number of wars have been fought over the Union Territory.
Pakistan has attempted to internationalise the issue, despite signing the Simla Agreement in 1972. The US, too, has in the past attempted to mediate, even holding as many as six rounds of negotiations alongside the United Kingdom between 1962 and 1963 which came to naught.
US President William J. Clinton III attempted to wade into the issue in 1993, making a mention of the situation in Kashmir in his United Nations General Assembly speech that September. However, the US offers have found no purchase from any Indian government in the last few decades.
Gor’s announcement of reevaluating the travel advisory was welcomed by former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who said that the current advisory is a “wall between Kashmir and the world”.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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