WASHINGTON: Pakistan has informed the US administration about its concerns over current tensions along the Line of Control in Kashmir and on the working boundary with India, says the country’s ambassador.
“We have been unable to comprehend the Indian provocative strategy to generate tension on the LoC and the working boundary,” said Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani, while talking to Dawn.
“Pakistan has sensitised the P-5 countries including the US about our concerns,” he said, referring to five permanent members of the UN General Assembly.
Know more: Pakistan conveys concerns over border skirmishes to US delegation
Diplomatic sources in Washington told Dawn that a Pakistani delegation which visited the US capital earlier this week and senior Pakistani diplomats have conveyed their concerns to officials at the State Department and the White House.
US says it’s using its diplomatic missions to try to calm situation
“The current Indian aggression runs counter to its declaration to create peaceful regional environment for economic development,” Ambassador Jilani said.
In a presentation at a US think-tank, the ambassador warned that India’s aggressive posture was a threat to peace in South Asia.
He also expressed disappointment with New Delhi’s unilateral decision to cancel Foreign Secretary level talks and blamed Indian security forces for escalating tensions through multiple violations of the LoC and the working boundary.
“Such aggressive posturing in a volatile region not only runs counter to the stated Indian objectives for a peace dialogue with Pakistan but also jeopardises the security and stability of the entire region,” he said.
In recent news briefings, the US State Department expressed similar concerns and urged India and Pakistan to resolve their differences through peaceful negotiations.
“We are concerned about any violence along the LoC. We will continue to encourage the governments of Pakistan and India to engage in further dialogue to address these issues,” said the department’s spokesperson Jen Psaki.
She also said that Washington was in touch with officials in Islamabad and New Delhi and was using its diplomatic missions in those two capitals to urge them to calm the situation.
Besides five permanent members of the Security Council, Pakistan also raised the issue with the UN Secretary General, reminding them that Kashmir was widely accepted as underlying cause of conflict between South Asia’s nuclear neighbours.
Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2014
