Pak Asks US to Meddle in Kashmir, Other Disputes with India: Report

With the foreign ministers of the two countries scheduled to meet next month to tackle trust deficit, Pakistan has again brought up controversial subjects that will go a long way in raising distrust between the two countries, said media reports.

Pakistan has asked the US to meddle in Kashmir, Siachen and other disputed areas about which India is very sensitive and on which it has insisted the US has no role to play, reports said.

According to reports, Islamabad has asked Washington to push New Delhi for addressing controversial issues to bridge the trust deficit between the two countries rather than looking at them exclusively through the prism of terrorism, said reports.

“We want the US to encourage India to take steps for improving the human rights situation in Kashmir, moving forward on Siachen and Sir Creek and agreeing to arbitration on the Kishanganga hydropower project,” the Dawn quoted an unnamed senior diplomat as saying.

Pakistan conveyed the message to the US through diplomatic channels even though foreign ministers of the two countries are to meet next month, reports said.

“Our two countries do need to build mutual trust and confidence. It is therefore necessary that we engage each other with sincerity of purpose with a view to settling our differences and disputes and achieving peace and prosperity in the region,” Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit was quoted as saying.

He said that Pakistan was looking forward to a meaningful engagement with India for freeing bilateral relations from disputes, said reports.

“It is a key for both of us to first agree on the cause of trust deficit before we find ways to deal with it,” the unnamed diplomat was quoted as saying.

He said that India’s tendency to see terrorism as the only cause of distrust could complicate matters, reports said.

“It is a self-delusional approach,” he was quoted as saying.

The diplomat said that the realisation in India that confrontation with Pakistan ‘is hurting its own development’ is a positive sign and could expedite the normalisation of bilateral relations, said reports.

(Based on internet reports)