US President Donald Trump on Friday called for a dialogue between India and Pakistan over the crisis in Kashmir after a phone call with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, the White House announced.
"The president reiterated the importance of India and Pakistan to reduce tensions over the state of Jammu and Kashmir through bilateral dialogue," the US presidency said in a statement.
Earlier on Friday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Khan had made clear to Trump his concerns about the situation in the disputed Kashmir region with India ahead of a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the issue.
The telephone conversation between Trump and Khan came after the killing of at least five people, in a cross-border exchange of fire between India and Pakistan, amid escalating tensions between the nuclear rivals, since New Delhi abolished self-rule in the part of Kashmir on Aug. 5.
Sporadic clashes are taking place on the Line of Control dividing the disputed territory, but the latest incident occurred after Pakistan warned of its readiness to face any Indian attack on Kashmir.
"Today (Khan) spoke to President Trump," Qureshi told a news conference. "There was an exchange of views on the situation in the region, especially the situation in occupied Kashmir."
Upon receiving Khan at the White House last month, Trump confirmed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate the ongoing dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir since the end of British colonialism in 1947, but New Delhi categorically denied it.
New Delhi maintains that Kashmir is a bilateral issue and should not be the subject of international intervention.
By Simon Kira August 17, 2019
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