Seeking "third party intervention" in the Kashmir issue, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today told American senators here that the US was the "most relevant" party to get involved in the matter.
During his meeting with Senator Bob Corker, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and ranking members of the committee at the Capitol Hill, Sharif briefed them on his recent four-point peace proposal towards India.
According to an official statement: "Members noted the Prime Minister's proposal that given India's resistance to bilaterally resolve outstanding issues including Kashmir, it would be imperative to have the third party intervention for which the United States would be most relevant."
Sharif briefed members of the Congress about his recent peace initiative towards India announced in the UN General Assembly session, it said.
India has rejected any third party intervention to the Kashmir issue and has maintained that all outstanding matters in Indo-Pak ties should be resolved bilaterally.
However, the US has time and again reiterated that it is for India and Pakistan to discuss and decide on the pace and scope of their bilateral relationship.
Yesterday also, the State Department encouraged India and Pakistan to engage in direct talks.
"We continue to believe that India and Pakistan stand to benefit from practical cooperation, and we encourage both India and Pakistan to engage in direct dialogue aimed at reducing tensions.
"The normalisation of relations between Pakistan and India is vital to both countries and to the region, and steps that initiate closer regional trade and energy ties, we believe will create jobs, lower inflation, and increase energy supply," the State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters at his daily news conference.
Kirby was responding to questions on the meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry and Sharif, during which the latter, according to Pak officials, briefed the US about the alleged "destabilising role of Indian agencies" in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), Balochistan and Karachi.
Members of the Congress said Pakistan was an important country in the region and the US looked forward to engaging with Pakistan to advance the goals of peace and stability there.
They assured Sharif of the continued support by the Congress in complimenting Pakistan's efforts to stimulate people-centred growth and eliminating militancy and extremism from the region.
