Reiterating that world powers should get involved in resolving the Kashmir issue, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he had told President Clinton in 1999 that if the U.S. intervened, the issue could be settled.
According to a media report from London, where Mr. Sharif made a stopover on his way to Washington to meet President Barack Obama, he said that during his visit to the U.S. in July 1999 amid the Kargil episode, he had made things clear to President Clinton about the need for U.S. intervention. Had the U.S. President spent even 10 per cent of the time on Kashmir that he spent on the Middle East issues, Kashmir could have been resolved, Mr. Sharif was quoted as saying. Mr. Clinton had made a promise then.
The Prime Minister added that even if India did not want such an intervention, world powers should show interest keeping in mind that both countries were nuclear powers. He referred to the arms race and said the situation could get dangerous. There was a need to limit this race and think about these issues.