Days after the US envoy to Pakistan made a low-profile visit to Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the US ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, said on Tuesday that the Kashmir issue can only be resolved by New Delhi and Islamabad.Donald Blome, the US ambassador to Pakistan, made a multi-day visit to Gilgit-Baltistan that concluded on Sunday. He toured different parts of the strategic region and met several officials, including a minister and the deputy speaker of the local assembly.
In October last year, India formally protested to the US after Blome visited PoK and repeatedly referred to the region as “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”.
When Garcetti was asked by reporters about Blome’s visit to Gilgit-Baltistan, he replied: “Look, it’s not my place to react to the United States ambassador in Pakistan but I know he’s been before, and we’ve had obviously part of our delegation in Jammu and Kashmir during the G20 as well.”
Garcetti added, “We’ll stay engaged but this is an issue, we very religiously note, that has to be something that is resolved between India and Pakistan, not by any third party, including the US.”
Leave a comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *