The US ambassador to India’s description of Jammu and Kashmir as “an important part of India” is deeply deplorable and merits the strong protest lodged by the Foreign Office in Islamabad.
On an issue as consequential as Kashmir, such language cannot be dismissed as an offhand diplomatic remark. It amounts to an apparent endorsement of one side’s position on a dispute that has remained unresolved for decades and over which Pakistan and India have fought two full-fledged wars, besides several limited military conflicts.
Pakistan has therefore rightly taken strong exception to the ambassador’s remarks.
Jammu and Kashmir is not a settled matter that can simply be described as belonging to one country by a foreign diplomat. It is an internationally recognised dispute that has repeatedly been taken up at the United Nations and remains governed by the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, which provide for a free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices to determine the future of Jammu and Kashmir.
The dispute cannot be erased by asserting one side’s claim to the territory.
Rafique Cheema, Gujrat
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026