Kashmir is an internal matter of India, the US said on Tuesday, and asked the stakeholders to find a peaceful resolution in the Valley following the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani last week.
“We have seen reports of the clashes between protestors and Indian forces in Kashmir, and we are concerned by the violence. We encourage all sides to make efforts towards finding a peaceful resolution,” a State Department spokesman said.
The spokesman said the US has not spoken with Indians on this issue as it is an internal matter.
“.....We have not. This is an internal matter for the Government of India,” the spokesman said.
Read | Stay out of our internal affairs: India tells Pakistan over Kashmir remarks
Authorities struggled to contain street protests on Monday by Kashmiris defying patrols and a stringent curfew after at least 25 people died in clashes.
Paramilitary troops and police in riot gear patrolled villages and towns in the Himalayan region. Most shops were shuttered, businesses were closed, and cellphone and mobile internet services were suspended in parts of the region. But crowds ignored the clampdown and clashed with government troops in parts of Srinagar and several other places in the region.
{{/usCountry}}Paramilitary troops and police in riot gear patrolled villages and towns in the Himalayan region. Most shops were shuttered, businesses were closed, and cellphone and mobile internet services were suspended in parts of the region. But crowds ignored the clampdown and clashed with government troops in parts of Srinagar and several other places in the region.
{{/usCountry}}The protests erupted on Saturday, a day after Indian troops killed Burhan Wani, the young leader of Kashmir’s largest rebel group, Hizbul Mujahideen, which has been fighting since the 1990s against Indian rule. Wani, in his early 20s, had become the iconic face of Kashmir’s militancy, using social media to rally supporters and reach out to other youths like him who had grown up while hundreds of thousands of Indian armed forces have been deployed across the region.
With inputs from PTI