WASHINGTON: The US State Department on Thursday maintained that resolving Kashmir issue might help in bringing peace in Afghanistan.
Speaking at a press briefing a day after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged India to seek rapprochement towards Pakistan, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said that the US views handling Afghanistan as a regional strategy which also incorporates India and Pakistan.
In response to a question whether the US sees pushing for a solution on Kashmir as part of its regional strategy to deal with Afghanistan, Nauert said that Washington’s policy on Kashmir has not changed. “We continue to encourage the sides to sit down and talk together,” she underscored.
Regarding the government’s decision of border fencing along the Durand line, the spokesperson said that the US supports practical cooperation between both the countries. She went on to say that US supports an Afghan-led peace process for Afghanistan’s stability. “One of the ways we believe that they can get to the point [of achieving stability] is through the assistance of regional partners, such as India.
Published in Daily Times, August 25th 2017.
