(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. has urged India to take “rapid action” to lift sweeping communication and movement restrictions imposed in its portion of the restive Kashmir region and to release those who’ve been detained as part of its continuing crackdown.
“We hope to see rapid action in the lifting of the restrictions and in the release of those who have been detained,” Alice Wells, the U.S. State Department’s Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, told reporters at a briefing on the sidelines of the United National General Assembly in New York. “We look forward to the Indian Government’s resumption of political engagement with local leaders and the scheduling of the promised elections at the earliest opportunity.”
The remarks come as Pakistan’s Premier Imran Khan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to address the UNGA Friday.
Khan has flagged that he intends to talk about India’s unprecedented security crackdown in Jammu and Kashmir after Modi’s government abolished 70 years of regional autonomy there on Aug. 5 and put in place restrictions including an extended communications blackout and detentions of dozens of local political leaders.
Khan has called on the international community to respond to what he describes as a “huge humanitarian crisis” in Kashmir. Modi has defended India’s moves both as an effort to integrate the region with the rest of the country and boost economic growth.
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