'US won't meddle in J&K issue'

The incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman says Kashmir is not an issue for the US to resolve.

Senator Joseph Biden, incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, has said Kashmir is not an issue for the United States to resolve and he will not bring up the matter without "consultations with India".

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"I don't think we can determine - we the United States - (how it should be resolved)," Biden said in an interview.

"We should use whatever positive pressure we can to move in the direction (Indian Prime Minister Manmohan) Singh is moving and get some accomodation but that is not ours to resolve," he added. Biden is considered as one of the top Democratic candidates for the 2008 Presidential elections and is a powerful voice on issues of foreign policy.

Biden said as chair of the powerful Senate Committee he will not bring up the issue of Kashmir without "consultations" with India.

"My dream is that in 2020 the two closest nations in the world will be India and United States. If that occurs, the world will be safer," Biden said even while trying to minimise the "decades of mistrust" between Washington and New Delhi.

"This is the single most important relationship that we have to get right for our own safety's sake," the Delaware Democrat said.