Kashmir is bilateral issue, admits Indian PM Narendra Modi
Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after New Delhi abrogated provisions of Article 370.
PARIS (Dunya News) – After repeatedly declaring occupied Kashmir an internal matter, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accepted that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between nuclear-armed neighbours.
He said this in his meeting with the US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of G7 Summit in Biarritz, France. During the meeting, the two leaders discussed various issues including occupied Kashmir.
The Indian prime minister told President Trump that the issues between India and Pakistan are ‘bilateral’ and he does not want to trouble other countries in the world over Kashmir.
Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after New Delhi abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, evoking strong reactions from across the globe.
India had categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was an internal matter but Narendra Modi today accepted Kashmir as a bilateral issue.
Trump offers mediation
US President Donald Trump had offered to mediate the "explosive" situation in Kashmir amid mounting international concern over a flare-up in violence between India and Pakistan in the divided region.
Speaking a day after phone calls with the premiers of both countries, Trump said he was happy to try and help calm the situation in Kashmir where tensions have spiked since India revoked autonomous rule in the part of the region it controls on August 5.
His comments came as Pakistan said three of its civilians died in Indian gunfire from across the de facto border in Kashmir known as the Line of Control.
And the Press Trust of India news agency quoted officials as saying one Indian soldier died and four were wounded when Pakistani troops opened fire on forward posts and villages along the LoC in the Poonch district on Tuesday.
Both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers and the situation in Kashmir is further complicated by the fact that China also claims part of the Himalayan region.
Trump -- who has previously spoken of his willingness to mediate -- said he would raise the situation over the weekend with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both men are expected in France for a summit of the Group of Seven industralized nations.
"Kashmir is a very complicated place. You have Hindus and you have the Muslims and I wouldn t say they get along so great," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I will do the best I can to mediate," he added.
India revokes Kashmir s special status
On August 5, the Indian government had revoked the special status accorded to occupied Kashmir in its constitution, the most far-reaching political move on the disputed region in nearly 70 years.
A presidential decree issued on August 5 revoked Article 370 of India s constitution that guaranteed special rights to the Muslim-majority state, including the right to its own constitution and autonomy to make laws on all matters except defence, communications and foreign affairs.
In the lead-up to the move, India sent thousands of additional troops to the disputed region, imposed a crippling curfew, shut down telecommunications and internet, and arrested political leaders.
The move has worsened the already-heightened tensions with neighbouring Pakistan, which said it would downgrade its diplomatic relations with India.
