NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — On Monday, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry extended a formal invitation to his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to hold talks over the issue in Islamabad.
New Delhi declined Islamabad's offer, saying it was "ready for talks on terrorism but Kashmir is India's internal matter," the Times Now broadcaster said, citing sources.
Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained since 1947 when both states were founded. British India, according to the Indian Independence Act, was divided into two parts on a religious basis – India and Pakistan. However, the act left space for local leaders to choose whether they wanted to join India or Pakistan, which resulted in the decision by the Hindu ruler of Kashmir, mainly populated by Muslims, to join India. The dispute over Kashmir has resulted in several full-fledged wars, as well as a number of local military conflicts between India and Pakistan.
In July, Jammu and Kashmir saw a new surge of protests, with protesters demanding more autonomy or even independence for the region. In late July, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made a statement claiming that Kashmir would one day join Pakistan, which was strongly condemned by New Delhi.
