WASHINGTON DC: The United States has cautioned against making any assumptions linking Pakistan to the latest violence in Indian-administered Kashmir, while also brushing aside the notion that last week's meeting between army chief General Raheel Sharif and Secretary of State John Kerry was connected to the flare-up in the Uri area.
A State Department spokesperson, while expressing concern over violence in the disputed Himalayan region divided between the two countries, also urged India and Pakistan to hold dialogue on the Kashmir issue.
"I think that you're conflating a couple of things. Obviously, we know the secretary and the army chief of staff had a very productive discussion on Sunday on a range of security-related issues, and again, we're concerned about any violence in Kashmir, and I wouldn't jump to conclusions here," Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf told an Indian journalist.
According to reports, 11 Indian soldiers and six militants were killed when fighting broke out in Uri, rocking the region ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Imdian Kashmir.
Reiterating Washington's position on addressing the Kashmir dispute, the spokesperson said: "Obviously we're concerned about any violence in Kashmir. Our policy on Kashmir hasn't changed. We still believe that the pace and the scope and character of India and Pakistan's dialogue on Kashmir is for those two countries to determine, of course."
She also added that American embassies in both capitals, Islamabad and New Delhi, "have raised these types of incidents with their respective host governments and certainly encouraged both to continue working together on the issue."
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@Assas No India didn't it, It was a private Channel journalist.
If this is good for India then Indians should lump it instead of cribbing and complaining to Americans.
Nothing new here, and frankly, this is just a sign that the US does not want to get involved on the subject of Kashmir even tangentially. Good for India.