Indian government is taking some steps to restore normalcy in Kashmir, claims US official

The Indian government has taken some steps to restore normalcy in Kashmir, a senior US diplomat has told US lawmakers, while the Joe Biden administration is closely monitoring the security situation in the region, including terrorist threats.

The Indian Parliament on August 5, 2019, revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir bifurcating the state into two union territories.

“We see that the Indian government is taking some steps to restore normalcy. The Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) had access to a range of Kashmiri Indian politicians,” said Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, Near East, told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on South Asia, Central Asia and Counter-Terrorism, during the hearing on India-US relations on Wednesday.

Recently, several cabinet ministers have made several visits to Kashmir. Mobile phone connections have also been restored, he said, noting that the US is closely monitoring the security situation, including terrorist threats.

Lu said that cross-border insurgency has subsided in two years, Lu said he is having a meeting with Pakistan Army Chief General Bajwa in Pakistan in which he took credit for closing his border to terrorist groups Is.

India continues to report infiltration by terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir, although the rate of infiltration has decreased significantly over the past two years. Since the 2019 Pulwama attack, in which 40 Indian security officials were killed and under pressure from the international community, Pakistan has taken positive steps to address cross-border terrorism," he said.