Us Diplomat: Kashmir Human Rights A Concern For Washington

The Trump administration remains concerned about the ongoing crackdown in India-administered Kashmir, the restive Himalayan region stripped of its special constitutional status in August, but supports India’s development “objectives” there, a U.S. diplomat said in a statement Tuesday ahead of a congressional hearing in Washington.

Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells said the U.S. State Department has encouraged India to restore phone and internet access and release detainees in the region. After India’s Parliament voted to remove a constitutional provision that gave Kashmiris semi-autonomy and a right to their own constitution, flag and land, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government imposed a security lockdown and communications blackout. Thousands of people were detained.

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