While I found the title amusing :), the shift in US policy (or should I say reverting back to its old policy) is interesting. Looks like better sense prevailed on Obama…
Bad news for folks who were hoping the US would help in separating Kashmir from India.
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In a major shift in the policy of United States toward Kashmir, the government of US says Kashmir is a wholly an internal matter of India and Washington has no role in solving it.
It seems like Washington is going to leave Pakistan out in the cold on the Kashmir issue. The US government spokesperson Robert Wood on Wednesday (January 28) clarified its stand on Kashmir, saying it was not part of their country’s mandate.
The news comes as a severe blow to Islamabad which has long called for Washington to mediate on the contentious problem of Kashmir. On the other hand, this comes as welcome news for India which has always sought to tackle the Kasmir issue bi-laterall with no international interference.
**Implications of the statements **
The implications of the statements coming out of the White House firstly make it clear that the US will not mediate on Kashmir. This clearly indicates that the issue will continue to be an internal matter for the Indian government.
Pakistan will have to deal directly with India since it is a bi-lateral matter without an external influence.
The statements finally make it clear that separatist leaders can no longer hope to internationalize the matter.
The United States has made it clear that its newly appointed special envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan - Richard Holbrooke - has no mandate to deal with Kashmir and his sole job is to help bring stability to Afghanistan.
During the campaign, President Obama was pretty clear that he thought to solve South Asia’s problems, you need a very collective approach, and he talked a lot about Kashmir. It doesn’t sound like Holbrooke’s mandate is trying to mediate between India and Pakistan.
Robert Wood, Spokesman of US government, said that it was not in his mandate to deal with the subject of Kashmir, and that his mandate is to go out and try to help bring stability to Afghanistan, working closely with Pakistan to try to deal with the situation in the FATA region."
Speaking on the issue of Kashmir, Robert Wood, said, “With regard to Kashmir, I think our policy is well-known. I think India has some very clear views as to what it wants to do vis-à-vis, you know, dealing with the Kashmir issue, as well as the Pakistanis. But with regard to Ambassador Holbrooke’s mission, as I said, it’s to deal strictly with the Pakistan-Afghanistan situation.”
