Miliband''s views on Kashmir irk India

New Delhi, Jan 16 : India does not need unsolicited advice on internal issues like Jammu and Kashmir, an Indian Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday in response to British Foreign Secretary David Miliband linking Kashmir to terrorism.

"Foreign Secretary Miliband is entitled to his views, which are clearly his own and are evolving. India is a free country and, even if we do not share his view, he is free to express them. However, we do not need unsolicited advice on internal issues in India like Jammu and Kashmir," said Vishnu Prakash, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs.

Miliband had expressed his opinion in a piece in Guardian newspaper, where he wrote that "resolution of the dispute over Kashmir would help deny extremists one of their main calls to arms".

Indian authorities termed Miliband''s views as his own opinion not shared by New Delhi.

Earlier, briefing reporters at Mumbai''s Taj Mahal Hotel, Miliband, called for a rethink of the strategy against terrorism, saying the notion of a "war on terror" was misleading and mistaken in present times.

Miliband, who is winding down a three-day visit to India, said the motivations and identities of militant groups ranging from the Taliban to the Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for the Mumbai attacks, called for a different response. (ANI)

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