ISLAMABAD, July 18: A Kashmiri leader said on Friday that Pakistan had revoked his passport, a move he said reflected Islamabad’s intolerance of the idea of independence for the occupied valley.

Amanullah Khan, head of the Pakistan-based wing of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), said he discovered he had been placed on the Exit Control List when he tried to renew his passport so he could attend a conference on Kashmir in Washington.

“They thought, I’d be promoting independence for Kashmir,” he told Reuters.

The leader said Kashmir was bitterly contested by India and Pakistan, but neither country was interested in the wishes of Kashmiris who he said were in favour of independence.

“The only thing in common between India and Pakistan on Kashmir is that both of them are opposed to independence,” he said.

“They are more interested in owning Kashmir than in the sentiments of the Kashmiri people.”