Can help with Kashmir issue only if India and Pak want: Norway PM

NEWDELHI: The Prime Minister of Norway on Monday indicated that her country could help with the Kashmir issue only if such an intervention is desired by India and Pakistan, and said that tensions between the South Asian neighbours may result in lower investments in key sectors such as health and education.

Just hours later, Norway’s ambassador to India Nils Ragnar Kamsvag further clarified Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s statement by tweeting that she had “not offered to mediate between India and Pakistan“and that “Norway has neither been asked nor offered to mediate”. Kamsvag was reacting to media reports quoting Solberg. Over the years, Norway has played a key role in mediating in hot spots such as Palestine and Sri Lanka, and former Norwegian premier Kjell Magne Bondevik’s visit to Srinagar last November triggered speculation that Oslo could be eyeing a role in mediating in the Kashmir issue.

Asked whether Norway could play a role in mediating between India and Pakistan on Kashmir in view of its role in neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Solberg said that “nobody from the outside can make peace or make changes”. “So, if there is a movement in India and Pakistan for having talks together, of course, we…and other countries that would say we can help in anything if there is a possibility. But it has to be partner driven, it has to be those who are part of the conflict,” she said during a media interaction after inaugurating the new green building of the Norwegian embassy. “Our government policy is very clear – if we are going to help somewhere, they have to ask for it, it’s not an initiative that comes from the outside,” she added.

Solberg said India and Pakistan were “big enough countries to make sure that they can also decrease tensions between them without help from the outside”. Her visit to Srinagar was as a private citizen and not part of a “governmental plan to start any negotiations”, she added.