By IANS,
New Delhi: A day before he holds talks here, British Prime Minister David Cameron Wednesday ruled out any bid by Britain to mediate on the Kashmir dispute and stressed that it was for India and Pakistan to settle the issue.
“I don’t think Britain is a great place to mediate on this issue,” the 43-year-old Cameron, who is on a two-day visit to India, told Prannoy Roy in an interview on NDTV.
He said this in response to a question on the Kashmir issue. “We want India and Pakistan to have good relations, to have good dialogue and to settle these issues between them. It is for India and Pakistan to do that,” he said.
Britain welcomed the fact that India and Pakistan have had contacts, he said while alluding to the recent foreign minister talks between India and Pakistan. “It is for you to decide,” he added.
Cameron, who will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh Thursday, is keen to avoid a repeat of the diplomatic gaffe then foreign secretary David Miliband made during his visit to India last year when he said the unresolved Kashmir issue stoked militancy in the region, eliciting a sharp reaction from New Delhi.
Issues relating to Afghanistan and Pakistan will figure in discussions between the two leaders.