The United States on Thursday said that it was “very concerned” about the reports of detentions and restrictions imposed on Jammu and Kashmir residents and also called for curbing cross-border terrorism, The Times of India reported. The comments came three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met United States President Donald Trump at the G7 summit in France where Trump said that the Indian prime minister had the Kashmir situation “under control”.
“The US is watching the situation in Jammu and Kashmir closely,” a spokesperson for the US State Department said in New Delhi in response to media queries. “We continue to call for calm and restraint, including on rhetoric.”
The United States suggested that human rights of those affected must be respected in compliance with the legal process and an inclusive dialogue. “We note the broader implications of the developments in Jammu and Kashmir and the potential for increased instability in the region,” The Hindu reported, citing the statement.
Concerns raised by the United States came on a day that the Human Rights Watch issued a statement asking the Indian government to lift the communications shutdown in Jammu and Kashmir. The organisation alleged that the curbs had led to “disproportionate harm on the population” and described them as “...broad, indiscriminate, and indefinite restrictions on fundamental freedoms, including the right to free expression and to provide and receive information”.
Indian authorities, however, have reiterated that the decisions it has taken for the region of Jammu and Kashmir are its internal matter. At the G7 summit in Biarritz, a town in France, Modi had rejected any possibility of a third party mediating in the Kashmir dispute as it was a bilateral matter for India and Pakistan.
Restrictions were imposed and communication lines were cut in Jammu and Kashmir a day before the central government’s August 5 announcement to revoke the state’s special status. Several leaders were also either put under house arrest or detained. The move drew stiff criticism from Opposition leaders, who have also been stopped, on multiple occasions, from visiting the state to assess the ground reality.
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