BRITISH foreign secretary Boris Johnson called for an end to violence in Kashmir during a visit to Islamabad yesterday, warning tensions between India and Pakistan are holding the region back from becoming an “incredible boomzone”.
Johnson, who said he was visiting Pakistan for the first time, spoke a day after at least nine people were killed in Pakistani Kashmir when a civilian bus was hit by cross-border fire.
Britain could not act as a mediator between the two neighbours, Johnson said, adding that it must be up to India and Pakistan to find a “lasting solution”.
He voiced concern over incidents “on both sides” of the de facto Kashmir border, the Line of Control (LoC).
“We call for an end to the violence and for both sides to exercise restraint,” he said.
Johnson also lamented the “mutual sequestration” of the Indian and Pakistani economies.
“Look at the incredible human potential of Pakistan and its neighbours… and then imagine what the future could be like if this was sorted out. What an incredible boomzone it could be.”
Tensions in Kashmir reached dangerous levels in September, after India blamed Pakistani militants for a raid on an army base that killed 19 soldiers.
India said it had responded by carrying out “surgical strikes” across the heavily militarised border, sparking fury from Islamabad, which denied they took place.
There have since been repeated outbreaks of cross-border firing, with both sides reporting deaths including of civilians.
After Wednesday’s shooting Pakistani authorities closed the road leading to the scenic Neelum Valley, a popular tourist destination near the LoC, for security reasons.
India’s foreign ministry yesterday also accused Pakistan of targeting civilians in villages along the LoC, and of supporting “armed terrorists” it said had crossed the border earlier in the week and killed three Indian soldiers.
