British Prime Minister Theresa May said that the UK’s stand on Kashmir remains unchanged and it is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan to address.
“UK is responsible for creating Kashmir problem at the time of creation of Pakistan and India. Now they are washing off their hands” diplomatic observers said after Theresa May’s statement.
The issue was raised in the House of Commons during the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session on Wednesday by Pakistani-born Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi, who asked if the Kashmir issue would form part of May’s discussions during her visit to India next month.
“I take the same view as this government has since it came into power, and indeed previously, which is that the issue of Kashmir is a matter for India and Pakistan to deal with and sort out,” the British PM said in Parliament, an indication that Kashmir was unlikely to be on the agenda during her bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when she visits India between November 6 and 8.
Qureshi, who represents a heavily Pakistani-origin constituency of Bolton in north-west England, had questioned in the Commons: “Will the Prime Minister meet with me and cross-party colleagues to discuss the human rights abuses and the issue of self-determination for Kashmiri people, as was set out in the resolution of the UN in 1948 and can she raise this issue with the Indian Prime Minister.”
May, while avoiding any meeting herself, said: “The foreign secretary [Boris Johnson] has heard her representations and I am sure will be interested in taking those issues up with her.”