Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has welcomed US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor’s statement that Jammu and Kashmir is an important part of India.

Speaking in response to Gor’s remarks in Srinagar, Tharoor said the statement was welcome and reflected a position that India has been insisting on for a long time.

The comments come during Sergio Gor’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir, where the US Ambassador has been engaging with the region and highlighting its importance.

Watch this report for the latest reaction from Shashi Tharoor, Sergio Gor, Srinagar and developments surrounding Jammu and Kashmir.

Shashi Tharoor Hails US Ambassador Sergio Gor’s Statement On Jammu And Kashmir

In a major global recoil for Pakistan over Kashmir, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said on Monday that 'Kashmir is Bilateral Issue between India and Pakistan'. Watch this whole report.

WION Dispatch: OIC rejects Pak's agenda over Kashmir

Amidst the ongoing unrest in India&#39;s Kashmir, a senior Indian minister said today that the Narendra Modi administration would find a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue. 
 
Addressing a public reception in Northeast Indian state of Sikkim, India&#39;s internal affairs minister Rajnath Singh blamed Pakistan for fomenting trouble in Kashmir.&nbsp;

But Singh said the attacks wouldn&#39;t derail the government&#39;s efforts to find a &quot;permanent solution to the Kashmir issue&quot;.

has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in full and have fought two wars over the mountainous region.

The senior minister&#39;s statement comes at a time the Valley has been witnessing widespread unrest since April 9 when the bypoll to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat was held. 
 
Eight people were killed in firing by security forces on the day. The turnout was a mere 7.14 per cent. 
 
The April 12 bypoll to the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat had to be postponed by the Election Commission in view of the &quot;scary&quot; situation in Kashmir. 
 
Students in large numbers have hit the streets, staging protests against alleged atrocities by the security forces. 
 
Last year, around 80 people lost their lives in the unrest following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani. 
 
&quot;Kashmir is ours, Kashmiris are ours and Kashmiriyat is also ours. We will find a permanent solution to Kashmir,&quot; Singh said. 
 
Referring to the 2014 swearing-in ceremony of the Modi government, the home minister said leaders of all neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, were invited to show that the new government wanted to have friendly relations with all countries. 
 
However, he said, there had been no change in Pakistan&#39;s attitude towards India and it wanted to destabilise India. 
 
&quot;We hope that Pakistan will change. If it does not change, we have to change them. After globalisation, one country can&#39;t destabilise another country as the international community will not forget it,&quot; he said. 
 
The home minister is on a three-day visit to Sikkim during which he attended a conference of Himalayan states to review the security situation and development activities along the Sino-Indian border. 
 
He had also visited the Nathu La border post, besides visiting a few posts of Indo-Tibetan Border Police and SSB along the Sino-Indian and Indo-Nepal border respectively.

(PTI)

India;s internal affairs minister Rajnath Singh blamed Pakistan for trying to create unrest in India's Kashmir

Amidst the ongoing unrest in India's Kashmir, a senior Indian minister said today that the Narendra Modi administration would find a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue. Addressing a public reception in Northeast Indian state of Sikkim, India's internal affairs minister Rajnath Singh blamed Pakistan for fomenting trouble in Kashmir. But Singh said the attacks wouldn't derail the government's efforts to find a "permanent solution to the Kashmir issue". has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in full and have fought two wars over the mountainous region. The senior minister's statement comes at a time the Valley has been witnessing widespread unrest since April 9 when the bypoll to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat was held. Eight people were killed in firing by security forces on the day. The turnout was a mere 7.14 per cent. The April 12 bypoll to the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat had to be postponed by the Election Commission in view of the "scary" situation in Kashmir. Students in large numbers have hit the streets, staging protests against alleged atrocities by the security forces. Last year, around 80 people lost their lives in the unrest following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani. "Kashmir is ours, Kashmiris are ours and Kashmiriyat is also ours. We will find a permanent solution to Kashmir," Singh said. Referring to the 2014 swearing-in ceremony of the Modi government, the home minister said leaders of all neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, were invited to show that the new government wanted to have friendly relations with all countries. However, he said, there had been no change in Pakistan's attitude towards India and it wanted to destabilise India. "We hope that Pakistan will change. If it does not change, we have to change them. After globalisation, one country can't destabilise another country as the international community will not forget it," he said. The home minister is on a three-day visit to Sikkim during which he attended a conference of Himalayan states to review the security situation and development activities along the Sino-Indian border. He had also visited the Nathu La border post, besides visiting a few posts of Indo-Tibetan Border Police and SSB along the Sino-Indian and Indo-Nepal border respectively. (PTI)

Indian PM Modi will find 'permanent solution to Kashmir issue'

Clashes erupted between security forces and students today after they took out a protest march against the alleged highhandedness of security personnel at a college in Pulwama in south Kashmir, the police said. 
 
A number of students of Boys Higher Secondary School and Pulwama Degree College took out a joint march against the security forces action on April 15, a police official said. 
 
When the march reached near Pulwama police station, some of the students threw stones at security personnel, who lobbed teargas shells to disperse them, the official said. 
 
There are no reports of any casualty in the clashes, which were going on till reports last came in. 
 
There were unconfirmed reports of some students hoisting Islamic State flags and pasting posters of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in July last year, on the building of the degree college. 
 
Meanwhile, shops and other business establishments were shut in the area in view of the clashes.

Incidences of civilian unrest following army operations against militants in Indian&nbsp;Kashmir&nbsp;have been rising, in what many analysts see as a sign of growing resentment in the disputed region.

Roughly 500,000 Indian soldiers are deployed in&nbsp;Kashmir, which has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in its entirety.

(PTI)

Some students taking part in a protest march pelted stones at security personnel, who retaliated by throwing teargas shells to disperse them

Clashes erupted between security forces and students today after they took out a protest march against the alleged highhandedness of security personnel at a college in Pulwama in south Kashmir, the police said. A number of students of Boys Higher Secondary School and Pulwama Degree College took out a joint march against the security forces action on April 15, a police official said. When the march reached near Pulwama police station, some of the students threw stones at security personnel, who lobbed teargas shells to disperse them, the official said. There are no reports of any casualty in the clashes, which were going on till reports last came in. There were unconfirmed reports of some students hoisting Islamic State flags and pasting posters of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, who was killed in an encounter with security forces in July last year, on the building of the degree college. Meanwhile, shops and other business establishments were shut in the area in view of the clashes. Incidences of civilian unrest following army operations against militants in Indian Kashmir have been rising, in what many analysts see as a sign of growing resentment in the disputed region. Roughly 500,000 Indian soldiers are deployed in Kashmir, which has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in its entirety. (PTI)

Students clash with Indian security personnel in troubled Kashmir

India reiterated its stance that Kashmir was a bilateral issue with Pakistan, hours after the United States wished to &quot;de-escalate any sort of conflict going forward&quot;.

India&#39;s ministry of external affairs said they were willing to talk about Kashmir if terrorism sponsored from across the border abated.

&ldquo;We of course expect the international community and organisations to enforce international mechanisms, and mandates concerning terrorism emanating from Pakistan, that continues to be the single biggest threat to peace in our region,&rdquo; the statement released by the ministry stated.

New Delhi was responding to&nbsp;US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley&rsquo;s comment about the Kashmir issue.

In a departure from previous US administrations&#39; decision to stay away from the conflict in south Asia, Haley said: &quot;It&rsquo;s absolutely right that this administration is concerned about the relationship between India and Pakistan and very much wants to see how we de-escalate any sort of conflict going forward.&rdquo;

The senior member of the Donald Trump administration also expressed its intention of being a &quot;part of that (defusing tension in the region)&quot;.

&ldquo;We very much think that we should be proactive in the way that we are seeing tensions rise and conflicts start to bubble up and so we want to see if we can be a part of that,&rdquo; Haley said.

Haley also spoke about China&#39;s persistent vetos to label Jaish-e-Mohammad head Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

&ldquo;The administration very much is looking at all of these avenues and some of the things we have talked about is sanctions and who is on the list and how we have managed that,&rdquo; she said.

New Delhi has blamed&nbsp;Azhar for orchestrating deadly coordinated attacks in 2008, which left 164 people dead and further 308 injured.

Kashmir&nbsp;has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety.

Rebel groups have for decades fought roughly 500,000 Indian soldiers deployed in the region, demanding independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan.

The fighting has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead.

(WION with inputs from AFP)

India reiterated that it was a bilateral issue and that Pakistan needed to control terrorists on their side for Kashmir talks to begin

India reiterated its stance that Kashmir was a bilateral issue with Pakistan, hours after the United States wished to "de-escalate any sort of conflict going forward". India's ministry of external affairs said they were willing to talk about Kashmir if terrorism sponsored from across the border abated. “We of course expect the international community and organisations to enforce international mechanisms, and mandates concerning terrorism emanating from Pakistan, that continues to be the single biggest threat to peace in our region,” the statement released by the ministry stated. New Delhi was responding to US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley’s comment about the Kashmir issue. In a departure from previous US administrations' decision to stay away from the conflict in south Asia, Haley said: "It’s absolutely right that this administration is concerned about the relationship between India and Pakistan and very much wants to see how we de-escalate any sort of conflict going forward.” The senior member of the Donald Trump administration also expressed its intention of being a "part of that (defusing tension in the region)". “We very much think that we should be proactive in the way that we are seeing tensions rise and conflicts start to bubble up and so we want to see if we can be a part of that,” Haley said. Haley also spoke about China's persistent vetos to label Jaish-e-Mohammad head Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. “The administration very much is looking at all of these avenues and some of the things we have talked about is sanctions and who is on the list and how we have managed that,” she said. New Delhi has blamed Azhar for orchestrating deadly coordinated attacks in 2008, which left 164 people dead and further 308 injured. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety. Rebel groups have for decades fought roughly 500,000 Indian soldiers deployed in the region, demanding independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan. The fighting has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead. (WION with inputs from AFP)

India snubs US' attempt to mediate Kashmir issue

India&#39;s security personnel killed two militants belonging to a Kashmiri separatist group in India&#39;s Kashmir state on Saturday.

An Indian police spokesperson said a &quot;major terrorist action was averted&quot; when a security team intercepted the militants, belong to a group named Hizbul Mujaideen, near Amargarh village, 50 kilometres from Kashmir&#39;s capital city Srinagar.

Two policemen were injured as the cornered militants opened fire and lobbed a grenade at the police team, the spokesperson said.

Hizbul Mujahideen identified the slain militants as&nbsp;Azaharuddin who goes by nom de guerre&nbsp;&ldquo;Gazi Umar&rdquo; and Sajad Ahmad alias &ldquo;Babar&rdquo;. The outfit added that it was a &quot;big loss&quot; for them and that Azharuddin was a lecturer by profession who had abdicated government services to join the militant organisation.

Police recovered&nbsp;two AK assault rifles, one pistol, four hand grenades and other arms and ammunition from the scene of the encounter.

Last July, the Indian security forces had killed the group&#39;s commander Burhan Wani in an encounter, triggering waves of protests which degenerated into violence and clashes with Indian security forces.

Kashmir has been convulsed with extremism over the past few months. The northern state of India was also crippled by months-long curfew following the killing of Burhan Wani, who many Kashmiris viewed as the new face of the &#39;azaadi&#39; (freedom) movement.

(WION with inputs from PTI)

&nbsp;

The two Hizbul Mujahideen militants opened fire and lobbed a grenade at the police team before they were killed

India's security personnel killed two militants belonging to a Kashmiri separatist group in India's Kashmir state on Saturday. An Indian police spokesperson said a "major terrorist action was averted" when a security team intercepted the militants, belong to a group named Hizbul Mujaideen, near Amargarh village, 50 kilometres from Kashmir's capital city Srinagar. Two policemen were injured as the cornered militants opened fire and lobbed a grenade at the police team, the spokesperson said. Hizbul Mujahideen identified the slain militants as Azaharuddin who goes by nom de guerre “Gazi Umar” and Sajad Ahmad alias “Babar”. The outfit added that it was a "big loss" for them and that Azharuddin was a lecturer by profession who had abdicated government services to join the militant organisation. Police recovered two AK assault rifles, one pistol, four hand grenades and other arms and ammunition from the scene of the encounter. Last July, the Indian security forces had killed the group's commander Burhan Wani in an encounter, triggering waves of protests which degenerated into violence and clashes with Indian security forces. Kashmir has been convulsed with extremism over the past few months. The northern state of India was also crippled by months-long curfew following the killing of Burhan Wani, who many Kashmiris viewed as the new face of the 'azaadi' (freedom) movement. (WION with inputs from PTI)

India kills two Kashmiri rebels to 'avert major terrorist action'

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