President Trump`s Interest in the Kashmir Issue

US President Donald Trump has intervened in the recent war between Pakistan and India, persuaded both sides to cease fire and expressed interest in resolving the Kashmir issue. We have stated in this regard that if President Trump’s efforts pave the way for the implementation of the UN resolutions to resolve the Kashmir issue and the Kashmiri people get the right to decide their own future through a free plebiscite, then we will welcome it. But if all this is to be done for the sake of delay and passing time, then this has been happening continuously for the last 75 years., it will not make any difference in the situation. However, I would like to present to the readers an article from three decades ago, which can clearly assess the real objectives of America with regard to Kashmir, which was published in the August 1996 issue of the monthly magazine Nusrat-ul-Uloom Gujranwala:

Nawa-e-Waqt Lahore published a report on the Kashmir issue on July 22, 1996, citing the news agency NNI, in which it was stated that America has made a plan for an independent Kashmir and its diplomats have become active for this.

The interest of America and other Western powers in the Kashmir issue has been only to the extent that they have considered it a necessity to continuously maintain the state of war between Pakistan and India in South Asia, and their policies so far have revolved around this need. But for some time now, the desire to resolve this issue has been emerging from the mighty America. In the background of this, there is a clear need for America to have a strong military base in its neighborhood to deal with China, which obviously cannot be any better than Kashmir.

Therefore, such proposals are being made that:

1. the Kashmir region that Pakistan has, should be allowed to remain with it, 
2. the Jammu region should be given to India,
3. and the Kashmir Valley should be made an autonomous state. 

It is obvious that the newly independent Kashmir will need the help and support of world powers for its security and survival, and the mighty America can easily provide this security by taking it into its lap. This is why China, despite its good relations with Pakistan, has been looking a bit shy at the international forum for some time now.

In view of the increased activities of American diplomats regarding the Kashmir issue in the past few weeks, the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir, Sardar Muhammad Abdul Qayyum Khan, has also said that “something is definitely going to happen in Kashmir”. And it seems that the might America has now decided to bring this issue to a final conclusion.

We sympathize with the Kashmiri people and freedom fighters who have been struggling for half a century to protect their religious identity and achieve their inalienable right to self-determination, and we have always supported their struggle, but we are also afraid of this outcome of their long struggle and immense sacrifices. Yesterday, when we discussed this issue with a leader working on the Kashmir freedom front, he rejected this fear and said, now that the Kashmiri people themselves are participating in the freedom struggle, no solution can be imposed on them without their will. We pray that Allah Almighty makes it so, because nothing is difficult for Him, Ameen.