INDIA - US: CRITICISM ON KASHMIR

Despite a diplomatic offensive by India to convince American lawmakers, its clampdown in Kashmir came in for sustained grilling at a hearing of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on Human Rights in South Asia.

Anita Joshua, journalist with The Telegraph writes “if support for the bilateral relationship is bipartisan in Washington, so was the criticism about the clampdown, forcing even State Department officials testifying before the committee to admit that there is a humanitarian crisis in Kashmir and that the US is not comfortable with the trade-offIndia is making between national security and individual liberties.”

The hearing drew from the State Department condemnation of the Citizenship Amendment Bill. The chairman of the sub-committee for Asia, the Pacific and Non-proliferation, Brad Sherman, described the bill as a ‘crackpot idea’ that has no place in a democracy. The bill seeks to protect immigrants of almost all religions, except Islam, from India’s immediate neighbourhood.

Foreign policy experts said India had not drawn such sharp criticism in Washington in a long time — the last being in 1998 when the US imposed sanctions on India for the nuclear tests.

“The first panel underscored two notable trends post-Aug. 5. (1) Members of Congress are being critical of India in ways not seen in quite some time. (2) The criticism largely revolves around human rights conditions in Kashmir & not the A.370 revocation or Kashmir’s status,’’ tweeted Michael Kugelman, South Asia senior associate at the Washington-based The Wilson Center.

At the same time, he clarified that “the hearing shouldn’t be seen as a reflection of US policy. Congress doesn’t carry out US policy. Bottom line is US-India ties remain robust. Also, Wells’ criticism of India was fairly measured. And her statement was more critical of Pak than India.”