By Lalit K. Jha, IANS,
New York : A Kashmiri political activist in the US has welcomed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s remarks emphasising the need to have “better understanding” between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir dispute.
In an interview with Rachel Meadow on MSNBC news channel Friday, Obama said: “We should probably try to facilitate a better understanding between Pakistan and India and try to resolve the Kashmir crisis so that they can stay focused not on India, but on the situation with those militants.”
Obama said that once the Kashmir dispute was resolved, Pakistan could then focus more on tackling the militants within its own territory.
Ghulam Nabi Fai, executive director of the Kashmir American Council (KAC), said these are courageous words of Senator Barack Obama. Based in Washington DC, KAC espouses the cause of self-determination in the Valley.
In his statement, Fai referred to another statement on Kashmir made by Obama more than a month ago.
In an interview to Journal Arms Control Today Sep 25, Obama said: “I will continue support of the ongoing Indian-Pakistani efforts to resolve the Kashmir problem in order to address the political roots of the arms race between India and Pakistan.”
Fai claimed Obama’s statements are in “full conformity” with the previous statements made by officials of the US administration.