India neither informed nor consulted over move to revoke Jammu & Kashmir’s status: Alice Wells

United States Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells denied on Wednesday press reports claiming that India had informed the United States before revoking the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir.

In a tweet, the SCA account attributed to Wells mentioned that the Indian government neither consulted nor informed the US government before it revoked the status.

“Contrary to press reporting, the Indian government did not consult or inform the US Government before moving to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status. – AGW,” said the tweet.

Alice Wells, along with a high-level US delegation arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday, to hold delegation-level talks with the Pakistani leadership.

Wells’ visit comes a day after the Indian government had rushed through a presidential decree to abolish Article 370 of the Constitution that grants special status to Indian occupied Kashmir.

The US Department of State in its statement had said it was “closely following the events in the state of Jammu and Kashmir”.

Reacting to the events unfolding in occupied Kashmir, the US State Department said, “We take note of India’s announcement revising the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir and India’s plan to split the state into two union territories.

“We note that the Indian government has described these actions as strictly an internal matter. We are concerned about reports of detentions and urge respect for individual rights and discussion with those in affected communities,” the statement added.

 

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