New Delhi, July 5
The USA today defended sponsoring a seminar on Kashmir in Washington earlier this week, though it clarified that it did not signal any intent or attempt to mediate on the vexed issue.
India had issued a demarche to the Deputy Chief of US mission here and categorically told him that it was not in the State Department’s domain to intervene on such sensitive bilateral issues between India and Pakistan.
A US Embassy spokesman, however, said such “routine” internal conferences keep taking place and asserted that “neither the topics nor the participants were selected with an eye towards making a political statement.” The conference on “Kashmir revisited” was organised by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the State Department and had a variety of panelists.
The US Embassy spokesman said: “As many foreign affairs’ issues are exceedingly complex, it is both prudent and appropriate to supplement our information by seeking additional information and insight from experts in academia, business, non-governmental organisations, journalism and elsewhere”.
