The K-question facing the India-US relationship

The US is best advised to avoid a Pakistan hyphenation, or a Kashmir reference, as it seeks to firm up its relationship with India

Since the cessation of hostilities on the border, multiple voices in the government have spoken about a new normal in the India-Pakistan dynamic. A key aspect of this new normal is that the only point of contention in the bilateral relations that India is willing to discuss with Pakistan is the issue of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). On Tuesday, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson reiterated this in Delhi when he was asked about US President Donald Trump’s offer to mediate between India and Pakistan on resolving the Kashmir “dispute”, which Trump, for some reason, believes is a “thousand years old”.

Empty boats are pictured in the Dal Lake in Srinagar on May 13, 2025. Three suspected rebels were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir on May 13 in a gun battle with soldiers, the army said, the first since an attack on tourists last month brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. (Photo by Punit PARANJPE / AFP) (AFP)

It calls for a restatement that the Kashmir dispute is a legacy of Western colonialism in the subcontinent. Post Partition in 1947, Western powers tacitly backed Pakistan’s claim over Jammu & Kashmir on the ground that it was a Muslim-majority kingdom though it had acceded voluntarily to India. They succeeded in convincing the newly independent India to take the matter to the UN when Pakistan invaded J&K in 1948. New Delhi, quickly recognising the trap, has refused international mediation since. The exception was in 1965 when the Soviet Union hosted the Indian Prime Minister and Pakistan’s military dictator to sign the Tashkent Declaration. The 1972 Simla Agreement unambiguously states that all disputes would be resolved within the bilateral framework.

There are two key points in India’s stance on Kashmir. One, it does not see any scope for external mediation on J&K. Two, after Operation Sindoor, the “only outstanding matter is PoK”. The fact is that following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, J&K’s constitutional status within the Indian federal framework has changed: Its special status has been revoked and it is just like any other Indian state. For sure, Washington can use its good offices to convince Pakistan to look beyond Kashmir, dismantle its terror ecosystem, and buy peace with India. But it is best advised to avoid a Pakistan hyphenation, or a Kashmir reference, as it seeks to firm up its relationship with India.