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No change in policy in the region, says US State Department on Kashmir

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The United States on Wednesday said that there is no change in its policy on Jammu and Kashmir.

“I want to be very clear there has been no change in US policy in the region,” State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters in view of a tweet from the South and Central Asia Bureau of the State Department which welcomed the resumption of 4G mobile internet in Jammu and Kashmir.

The US State Department had said that it welcomes the resumption of 4G mobile internet in Jammu & Kashmir.

The state department added that this is an important step for local residents and that they look forward to continued political & economic progress to restore normalcy in J&K.

“We welcome the resumption of 4G mobile internet in India’s Jammu & Kashmir. This marks an important step for local residents and we look forward to continued political & economic progress to restore normalcy in J&K,” the department wrote on its official South and Central Asian affairs handle.

High-speed Internet was resotred in Kashmir after 550 days, after it had been shut down since August 5, 2019, when Government of India scrapped the semi-autonomous status of JK and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union territories- JK and Ladakh.

The move was made while all communication was blacked out, political leadership jailed, and curfew imposed in the region.

Following the abrogation, JK was turned into a union territory, governed directly by New Delhi through a selected local administration. Since then, the Government of India has changed many laws, including those that protected indigenous Kashmiris’ land rights.

As the removal of Article 370, ended the prohibition of outsiders to own land, the Domicile law, was introduced to grant citizenship of Jammu and Kashmir to outsiders, triggering fear of demographic change in the region.

Since then, thousands of outsiders have been given the domicile certificates, including ex Indian Army personnel.

Earlier today, the US State Department had said that it stands with India and that it is monitoring border disputes between India and China. The US State Department had said that it backs peaceful resolution through direct dialogue.

 

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