Senator McCain meets Indian Kashmir officials
"During their wide-ranging discussions lasting for about two hours, Senator McCain and the Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra exchanged views on various important issues of mutual interest," a statement from the government read.
It said the chief of the Indian army's northern division, of which Kashmir is an important part, and the army chief of the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley were also present during the discussions.
Full details of the discussions were not made available to the media.
The senior Republican was accompanied by two foreign policy advisers and diplomats from the US embassy in New Delhi.
The senator later met Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
The meetings took place in Indian Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar, once the hub of an urban insurgency.
Earlier the former US presidential candidate and senior Republican Senator John McCain visited Pakistan last week as part of ongoing efforts by the US and Pakistan to repair ties damaged by the Abbottabad raid on May 2.
McCain, 75, is also a senior member of the US Senate’s Arms Services Committee, which has the power to approve or deny military assistance to Pakistan.
Senator McCainhad met Pakistan’s top civil and military leadership to discuss the ongoing tensions, according to Foreign Office officials.
(Read: Easing tensions : ‘Maverick’ McCain arrives in Pakistan)
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Kashmir issue have been created by west to drag the progress of muslims .Think how ?....!
@Rational: "....so your logic is that because there are so many poor people that there MUST be a violent revolution?" No, that was not my logic. Violent revolutions do not occur because there is a large number of poor people. Violent revolutions occur when those poor people have lost hope of any advancement. You don't need large number of people for that although the larger the number, the better there is a real possibility of such a revolution. Poverty is not a plague unless you are stuck in it for a long time. A certain amount of poverty is a necessary condition for a human society to function. But, when a society does not allow the possibility of movement from one economic strata to another, that is when the hopes are lost and a real possibility of violent revolution emerges. In answer to your following paragraph, does the Anna Hazaare movement against corruption in India presently under way buttress my argument about the general empowerment of Indians? Has "..lack of education of human rights, no sense of entitlement and suppression." thwarted this movement in any way? If we had waited for redressal of all those shortcomings, India would not have had a democratic form of government. For your information, when the Constitution was being debated in Indian Constituent Assembly, there was a proposal to exclude uneducated and the illiterate from the democratic process. It was turned down and rightly so. You don't need "education of human rights, sense of entitlement and suppression." to sense you have been wronged!
@Rational on G.Din
but lets be honest whether its 670 or even 200..
Are you sure that, 670=200 !!! FYI, 670-200=470 (nearly 4 times the population of Pakistan). My intention of reply for you is to be realistical.
@Tamasha: Just wait and watch.
@ G.Din.. so your logic is that because there are so many poor people that there MUST be a violent revolution? it's human behavior.. you simply can't measure it just like that by imposing yourself as the authority to pass the statement. It is a fact I pulled out of the CIA fact book, I have no other source to back up the exact figure, but lets be honest whether its 670 or even 200.. you shouldn't fool yourself into believing that Indias poverty will not plague it in the future. India has greater disparity in it today than it has ever before. The problem is that because it has such a tremendous population there are enough Indians around the world who have benefited from the economic gains which leads people to falsely believing that India doesn't suffer from poverty as badly as it does, mind you none of this is being said in a disrespectful manner, I'm just trying to remind people that the focus should be the betterment of life for the masses that are already part of the state, instead of focusing on adding more people to it.
And to address the question that you have posted for Fortune Cookie, here is one way of answering it. The answer is a lack of education of human rights, no sense of entitlement and suppression. That is a problem throughout the sub-continent, not just India. The sort of behavior you are predicting can only happen in a state where people are aware of what is rightfully theirs, India Pakistan etc are nowhere close to that. Again it is the tremendous size of the population that becomes misleading.
Again the intention of my reply was not to be disrespectful.
@Rational ....... You are so right. Both India and Pakistan keeps on arming themselves with the latest weapons to the detriment of their POOR population.
A mind game that was once upon a time played by the Brits has turned into the biggest ego issue of the world, Kashmir. Millions lost and seemingly millions more to be lost with no guarantee of a conclusion. This is like the longest test match ever being played where the conclusion is a draw with both sides only losing time for no eventual gain. To everyone in this forum, Pakistani or Indian. Try and make a change to your own population and show them that befriending the neighbor is the best option. Yes things won't change tomorrow, but its been 64 years almost 4 generations have been lost in this struggle. Who knows, maybe another 64 years later this debate may come to an end without it being seen as a contest. If today Pakistan and India both leave this war to move in the right direction they will have all the monetary power they need to become masters of their own will.
So to Indians who plan on responding to this post by saying that India is already a super power and doesn't need to see this situation as a compromise with the only right decision being to take over Kashmir, then think about the 670 million people that live under a dollar a day in the country. That's not a mark of a world power.
To the Pakistanis who want to respond to this by saying that Kashmir is a predominantly a Muslim state and therefore should be rightfully part of Pakistan. Give up on it, You have 170 million Muslims in Pakistan, how well have they been treated?
So if you truly put the people in your country first, and sincerely think about them then be done with this rant on Kashmir and make a difference to your world.
This is the opinion of a Kashmiri in case some of us here are wondering.
Surprising, that such an inconsequential meeting generates so much heat among the netizens on this post. Cool down.
To all Indians on this forum, Lets get out and build our nation. Lets support Anna to remove corruption. Let us improve our democracy. Forget about Pakistan. Let them kill themself with hate and ignorance.
@Pakistan is the best: "I hope Kashmir is free soon from the clutches of dark power India." and land into the lap of suicidal mullahs of Pakistan?
"It is the Kashmiri people that must come with a workable solution that can be presented and approved by the Parliaments of both India and Pakistan." No matter how much you try, Pakistan has no locus standi in the matter. For your information, Kashmiri people are not all Muslim on whom you depend! Even some of those Muslims might pull a surprise for you!
Lots of leaders like McCain have come and gone to Kashmir either side of the LOC, without any success. This seems like another effort that is likely to have the same failed result. America is really not in any position to influence any positive outcome as its bag of tricks and leverage stands greatly reduced. It is the Kashmiri people that must come with a workable solution that can be presented and approved by the Parliaments of both India and Pakistan. The process can be expedited if those trying to influence events through the barrel of a gun are isolated.
McCain meets the democratically elected leaders of Kashmir, elected by the participation of more than 65% of the population, compared to the FM of Pakistan, Khar, who meets people who meets people who are too scared to contest elections.
@ All Pakistanis ranting about Kashmir
Don't worry, Kashmir is on its way to see the demises of Pakistan.
Recent poll conducted in Kashmir shows that Kashmiris who wanted to side with India at 28 % and you know how much Pakistan got, a big ZERO - 0 %.
One thing is obvious now, Kashmiris don't want the support or interference of Pakistan,
india is on its way to convince kashmiris that they will be part of india and lead a peaceful life with dignity and economic prosperity ... mark my words, kashmir will be an example of secular india where majority muslims living with minority hindus and buddhists peacefully !!
@Sobriquet - Who gave India the right to choke Jammu and Kashmir with a military occupation of about 900,000 men. Obviously india does not trust the people of Jammu and Kashmir and wants to intimidate them into submission. . . . . . .it just will not work!
@Tamasha:
The fact that you are blaming India for the mess that you people have created out of Balochistan tells that it might too go the Bangladesh way.
In 1970-71 too Hindus were blamed for the unrest and were massacred by the Pakistani Army and a propaganda was sold to West Pakistanis. But, in reality it was what the majority in Bangladesh thought. This is also the same.
Pakistani Army is now blaming India instead of the Hindus. And, gullible as you are, are swallowing that argument without even questioning it.
Its the same brainwashing at work with respect to Kashmir too. Pakistanis support the Hurriat, who have never contested a single election, thinking they represent the majority sentiment. But, reject the elected Chief Minister- Omar Abdullah, who have won the elections fair and square.
These very people in the Hurriat called for a boycott of Panchayat Elections, but 80% of the people participated, ignoring the Hurriat boycott call. What does that tell you?
There are people who follow the Separatists in Srinagar, but it would be a mistake to think they form the majority in J&K.
I hope Kashmir is free soon from the clutches of dark power India.
@john: i agree with you.
@Babloo - First you Indians need to stop meddling with Balochistan. You people had direct access to Bangladesh from your Indian Bengal but it will be harder from Afghanistan as Drones will just take care of the indian infiltrators and their puppets. You people are trying soooo hard to pull a Bangladesh out of Balochistan - it just will not work -save your resources - How pathetic! India's policies of reducing Pakistan will not work and remember it was only limited to Bangladesh - you are at a dead end my friend - go home!
For the world, the "K" word is not Kashmir anymore - it is Karachi.
@Tamasha, Your devious propogandist logic has reduced Pakistan to what its today. Forget Kashmir, take care of Baluchistan before it becoms ananthor Bangladesh.
@Shafiq: Please, India aligned itself with the USSR prior to its collapse as a 'master'. The Pakistani strategy has backfired spectacularly, but not all the blame rests on us. Your repression of the Kashmiri people remains, and India had contributed as much as Pakistan to this morass. There are two sides to coin, both are to blame, both sides must compromise.
@Babloo - Yes, it may appear that India has shut the voice of Kashmiris with the blood shed and sacrifice of 60,000 Kasmiri lives, but remember, their spirit is still alive and is not going to forget the spilling of their precious blood. Kashmir will sooner or later get its independence from the illegal Indian occupation regardless of the blood money India is getting from its tourism.
@Blithe, @Aadersh, @Aamir: The UN resolution 47 on Kashmir (of 21 April 1948) states that Pakistan has to withdraw all military presence from Kashmir and would have no say in Jammu and Kashmir politics, and India would retain a minimum military presence. This was to be the basis of a free and impartial plebiscite. The onus therefore is on Pakistan to comply before anything can happen. Why does Pakistan ignore this when discussing/demanding the implementation of UN resolution 47 ?
Pakistani's have no business telling a US Senator who he can meet with --- suggest you focus on intimidating Pakistani's who have dinner at the US embassy.
So what? Even the pakistan FM hina rabbani met with kashmiri separatists. In India anyone is free to meet with anyone else.
Not surprised at all because word "moral and allegiance" does not exists in US dictionary
Possibly they discussed how the neighbouring state sponsored jihadist propoganda and the militants trained and coming from from accross the border into Kashmir, have vitiated the minds of some sections of the population and disturbed the peace in Kashmir. Anyway, 2011 has been the most peaceful year in J&K in last 21 years. In fact, J&K is today among the most peaceful places in India with about a record bumper million tourists into the valley this summer.
@satindar: McCain was elected to a six-year term last year, so he is not running for reelection. I expect he is simply informing himself in order to better perform his duties as the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Not everything is nefarious.
And he spoke nothing of the outstanding UN Redolutions!?!?!
How duplicitious!
These US guys have no morals and no moral diomacy!!!
Remember that year 2012 is an election year. McCain and his like are putting up a show for domestic consuption to push up their chances and fortunes. That is all and nothing moire than that. In election year the American leaders must not be and cannot be trusted. So cool down Mr.Senator. Come back in year 2013.
India is a free country.
Hurriat leaders (traitors) have met Pakiustani leaders more often than not.
So, McCain meeting them is inconsequential.
@aadersh..
I think you are living in mars..
@Aadersh: haha, cunning, opportunist joker joking
The on-going conflict in Kashmir is the result of colonialists arbitrarily dividing countries to suit their long term interests. I hope the Kashmiris, Muslims and Hindus, can come together again and live in peace.