Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has expressed concern about tensions in Kashmir, urging India to follow a fair policy with respect to people of the Muslim-majority region.
“We maintain good relations with the Indian government, but the Indian government is expected to adopt a fair policy toward the decent people of Kashmir and the Muslim people of the region are not pressurized,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani and his cabinet members in Tehran on Wednesday.
The Leader described the current situation in Kashmir and the dispute between India and Pakistan over the region as the ensuing result of Britain’s “malicious measures” when it departed the Indian subcontinent.
“To prolong the conflict in Kashmir, the British intentionally left this would [open] in the region,” the Leader said.
Kashmir has been the scene of fresh protests and placed under a lockdown ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked the Indian-administered region’s special status.
New Delhi claimed that the decision to strip the disputed Muslim-majority region of its semi-autonomy was necessary for Kashmir’s economic development and to stop “terrorism.”
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their partition and independence from Britain in 1947. The disputed region is claimed in full by both sides, which have fought three wars over it.
This item is being updated.