Mumbai, May 28: Strongly supporting India's move to extend a hand of friendship to Pakistan, the US today categorically ruled out any mediation on the Kashmir issue.
"Bush administration, despite constant media speculation
to the contrary will not attempt to mediate on the Kashmir
issue", the outgoing US ambassador to India Robert D Blackwill
told a news conference here.
"There will be no American roadmaps. No American
gameplan. No American substantive proposals", he said
referring to Indo-Pak ties and emphasised that differences
between India and Pakistan must be resolved bilaterally.
Stating that he might be "breaking a news", the US
ambassador said America did not have any forewarning about
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's peace initiative at a
public rally in Srinagar.
"The Bush administration did not have any hidden hand
behind the Srinagar speech", Blackwill said adding that "we
have not put pressure on Indian Government. We only made our
preferences known".
"The US President George W Bush's resolve is not to see
the US-India relationship through the prism of Washington's
interaction with Islamabad or India's differences with
Pakistan", he said.
Bureau Report
