Pakistan ambassador not ruling out another war with India over disputed Kashmir region

NEW YORK: Another war between India and Pakistan is not out of the question a year after India revoked the special status of the disputed Kashmir region, which has led to a government crackdown and allegations of abuse against civilians in the majority-Muslim province, said Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, foreign media reported, foreign media reported.

In an interview Monday with The Washington Times, Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan offered a generally pessimistic view of any chance for successfully walking back tension between the two nuclear-power neighbors

Mr. Khan said there is a complete lack of dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad over the ethnically diverse and hotly contested region.

“You have a border where you have over 2,000 violations since January. The Line of Control is hot,” he said. “No one can or should rule out the possibility of a larger confrontation.”

The Himalayan region of about 86,000 square miles was in dispute even before India and Pakistan won their independence from Great Britain in 1947. Both countries eventually divided up the area.

Last year, New Delhi revoked the privileged status of India-controlled Kashmir, which had granted them a level of autonomy. The move has sparked waves of fighting across the area.

Mr. Khan said India ultimately wants to alter the population of Kashmir by granting almost half-a-million Indian citizens the right to move there.

“This is something that was not even done before partition,” he said. “They are clearly working on a long-term agenda.”