Indian clout damaging Kashmir cause: Masood

washington — A former top Pakistani diplomat has said that because of India’s influence and economic power, countries are unwilling to raise the issue of Kashmir at international level, including the UN.

Masood Khan, former Pakistani ambassador to the UN, who is now president of Pakistan-administred Kashmir, rued that India had veto on the talks between the two South Asian neighbours.

Khan is currently in Washington for what he described is part of his effort to apprise the international community about the current situation in Kashmir. “India has strategic alliances with certain countries. Because of the lucrative deals that it offers to powerful countries in the West, it has practically imposed a gag order on Kashmir,” Khan said in response to a question at the Atlantic Council, a top American think-tank.

Khan said that because of increasing Indian influence, “people here (in Washington DC), in Brussels, in London or other world capitals don’t talk about Kashmir, because this would have consequences… for these countries, like in terms of economic transactions, and strategic costs”, the former top diplomat sai.