US ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome's visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) recently has further enraged India which was already unhappy with the US decision to assist in an upgrading of Pakistan's F16 fleet.
India lodged a complaint with US authorities over the three-day visit that was ostensibly intended to highlight the US-Pakistan partnership and highlight the two countries' "deep economic, cultural, and people to people ties," but the diplomat also referred to PoK as "Azad Jammu and Kashmir," a term used by Islamabad. Significantly, the US embassy in Pakistan also said in its statement on the meeting that Blome had visited ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir’.
Blome is the second senior US official to travel to PoK this year after Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who in April this year spoke out against alleged human rights abuses in J&K.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated that “our objection to the visit and meetings in PoK by the US ambassador to Pakistan has been conveyed to the US side.”
In what further upset India, the ambassador met with officers from the Pakistan Army 12th Infantry Division apparently to discuss assistance activities for local communities. He also met with ‘AJK Prime Minister Tanveer Ilyas’ and academic, business, cultural and civil society representatives.
This is the second time in the past couple of months that India has protested the US handling of Pakistan-related issues that have a bearing on India’s security. The Biden administration earlier approved a $450 million sustainment package for Pakistan’s F16 fleet.
After multiple protests by India, the US clarified its decision was meant to bolster Pakistan’s counter-terrorism capabilities. These developments also come at a time when India refuses to toe the line of the West led by the US on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
