India Had Not Informed To End Special Status To J&K: US
NEW DELHI : The United States has said India’s decision to revoke Article 370, which gave a special status to Kashmir, was the country’s “internal matter” and called for peace in the region.
This comes as a blow to Pakistan’s diplomatic effort to raise international concern over the developments in India. The United States, however, said it was concerned about reports of detentions in the state and following the developments closely . “We are concerned about reports of detentions and urge respect for individual rights and discussion with those in affected communities,” US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said.
Ortagus noted India’s action in the J&K was “strictly internal matter”. Meanwhile, another US State Department official urged India to “respect individual rights” while calling for peace. The Rajya Sabha passed the J&K Reorganisation Bill on Monday amid protests from opposition Congress and J&K’s regional parties.
The bill divides J&K and Ladakh; the two will now be union territories. The government imposed section 144 in the state on Monday morning ahead of the parliament proceedings where Amit Shah announced the decision to revoke Article 370. Schools and colleges in J&K have been closed until further orders. Mainstream party leaders, including Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, have been placed under house arrest.
Although , US said India did not inform the US about its intention to scrap special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the country’s state department said on Wednesday, disputing media reports that New Delhi had kept Washington in the loop.
“Contrary to press reporting, the Indian government did not consult or inform the US Government before moving to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status,” the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs of the US State Department posted on Twitter.The tweet was signed by Acting Assistant Secretary Alice Wells.
News website ThePrint had reported on Monday that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had briefed his American counterpart, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, about the government’s plans to scrap special privileges granted to Jammu and Kashmir.
Quoting unnamed sources, ThePrint said that, on August 1, Mr Jaishankar briefed Mr Pompeo in Bangkok on the sidelines of the ninth East Asia Summit, and in February, days after the Pulwama terror attack, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke to his US counterpart John Bolton Bolton.
Government sources had told NDTV on Monday that the foreign ministry had briefed the UN Security Council’s five permanent members – including the US – and the foreign media on the government’s momentous move on Jammu and Kashmir, announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in parliament.
Besides the United States, the other permanent members of the UN Security Council are China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom.
Government sources said the ministry explained that the changes made were to a “temporary” article. “70 years is a long time for something temporary. It lessened accountability, quality of governance and added to separatist sentiment,” the sources quoted the ministry as saying.
The government had used a provision in the constitution’s Article 370 – which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir – to bring privileges like the state’s ability to frame its own laws to an end.
(With Agency Inputs ).
