New Delhi: US state department said on Wednesday that India did not inform the US about its intention to scrap special status to Jammu and Kashmir, disputing media reports that New Delhi had kept Washington in the loop.
"Contrary to press reporting, the Indian government did not consult or inform the US Government before moving to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special constitutional status," the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs of the US State Department posted on Twitter.
The tweet was signed by Acting Assistant Secretary Alice Wells.
According to ThePrint on Monday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had briefed his American counterpart, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, about Indian government's plans to scrap special privileges granted to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Quoting unnamed sources, ThePrint said that, on August 1, Jaishankar briefed Pompeo in Bangkok on the sidelines of the ninth East Asia Summit, and in February, days after the Pulwama terror attack, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke to his US counterpart John Bolton.
According to NDTV, government sources said that the foreign ministry had briefed the UN Security Council's five permanent members - including the US - and the foreign media on the government's momentous move on Jammu and Kashmir, announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in parliament.
Besides the United States, the other permanent members of the UN Security Council are China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom.
Government sources said the ministry explained that the changes made were to a "temporary" article. "70 years is a long time for something temporary. It lessened accountability, quality of governance and added to separatist sentiment," the sources quoted the ministry as saying, reported by NDTV.
