The United States views violence along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region as deeply regrettable and would fully support efforts towards rapprochement between the South-Asian neighbors, Pakistan and India, a senior US official said.
“There has been violence along the LoC in disputed Kashmir for many decades now, and that is highly regrettable,” Asia Pacific Security Affairs Acting Assistant Secretary for Defence Peter Lavoy said.
He was responding to a question at a Pentagon briefing in wake of the recent episode of cross-LoC Indian firing which killed one Pakistani soldier earlier this week.
Referring to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s statement on improving relations with India, Lavoy said the US government supports any efforts for improvement in political or economic ties between the two countries.
At the same time, Lavoy noted that it was up to the countries in the region to manage their own relations.
“Pakistan and India are the countries that are most directly affected by the Kasmir dispute and they both need to sort it out as part of maintaining bilateral ties,” he said.