US urges India to ease restrictions in Valley

UNITED NATIONS: The US hopes to see "rapid action" by India to lift restrictions imposed in Kashmir and release of those detained, a senior official has said, a day after President Donald Trump offered to arbitrate or mediate between India and Pakistan to ease their tensions.

Alice Wells, the top State Department official for South Asia, made the comments on Thursday after President Trump held separate talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly here.

Trump on Wednesday said he offered "arbitration or mediation" on the Kashmir issue to the leadership of India and Pakistan during his meetings with Modi and Khan and the two nuclear-armed neighbours have to "just work it out".

Responding to questions on the Kashmir issue during a special briefing here, Wells noted that after India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5, Prime Minister Modi had laid out a plan and objectives of returning Kashmir political life and restoration of even of state status and engagement with a new generation of political leaders.

"I think we are interested in knowing the next steps in engagement and encouraging that political dialogue to begin, in which we'll also in the next we hope to see rapid action in the lifting of the restrictions and in the release of those who have been detained," she said, apparently referring to Prime Minister Modi's address to the nation on August 8. The government revoked the provisions of Article 370 to take away the state's special status and bifurcated the region into two UTS -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. India's move has angered Pakistan, which has been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue.