Senator McCain meets Indian Kashmir officials

Full details of the discussions with local army officials were not made available to the media.

SRINAGAR, INDIA:
US senator John McCain held discussions ‘on various important issues’ with India's top representative in Kashmir and senior Indian army officials on Tuesday, the government said.

"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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