NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — India has reiterated its stand that the India-Pakistan issue is a bilateral matter which will be solved by and between the two countries.
"Government's position for bilateral redressal of all India-Pakistan issues in an environment free of terror and violence hasn't changed," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.
India said that if the US is serious in its intention then it should urge Pakistan to dismantle the terror infrastructure operating from Islamabad's soil.
"We, of course, expect the international community and organisations to enforce international mechanisms and mandates concerning terrorism emanating from Pakistan, which continues to be the single biggest threat to peace and stability in our region and beyond," Baglay said.
Earlier, the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said that the United States would try and find its place in efforts to de-escalate tensions between India and Pakistan. Haley also spoke of a possible role for President Donald Trump.
During his run for President, Trump had expressed his desire to be a mediator between India and Pakistan to reduce tensions.
India has rejected any third party mediation.
"Being a bilateral issue, India will not, in any case, appreciate a third country's mediation. In fact, India had earlier also rejected the idea of mediation by the US. There are, in fact, two reasons for it, first is that India has stated policy that Kashmir and other outstanding issues with Pakistan will be solved through dialogue without any outside mediation. Secondly, India does not want to align with any particular bloc for strategic reasons. Russia knows India's aspirations therefore they mainly insisted on solving the issues with Pakistan on a bilateral basis," former diplomat Yogendra Kumar told Sputnik.
