US Congressional report says Pakistan has 'limited options' to respond to India's move on Jammu and Kashmir

Islamabad has 'limited options' to react to India's decision of revoking Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcate the erstwhile state into two union territories as many experts believe that Pakistan has 'little credibility' on the issue due to its long history of supporting militant groups there, according to a US Congressional report.

"Many analysts view Islamabad as having little credibility on Kashmir, given its long history of covertly supporting militant groups there. Pakistan's leadership has limited options to respond to India's actions, and renewed Pakistani support for Kashmiri militancy likely would be costly internationally," it said.

In its second report on Kashmir in less than six months, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), an independent research wing of US Congress which is responsible for making periodic reports on issues of interest for US lawmakers, has said that Pak's ability to alter the status quo through military action has been reduced in recent times, and it is likely to rely primarily on diplomacy.

"Pakistan's ability to alter the status quo through military action has been reduced in recent years, meaning that Islamabad likely must rely primarily on diplomacy," the CRS said.

Dated January 13, the 25-page report stated that post-August 5, 2019, Pakistan appeared diplomatically isolated, with Turkey being the only country to offer its support. Ties between India and Pakistan were severely strained after the latter withdrew Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. The neighbouring country has been trying to gather international support against India on the issue. However, India has maintained that the move was "entirely an internal matter".

The report also said that Pakistan called for a UNSC session and, with China's support, the Council met on August 16 to discuss Kashmir for the first time in over five decades, albeit in a closed-door session that produced no formal statement.

"Given also that Pakistan and its primary ally, China, enjoy limited international credibility on human rights issues, Islamabad may stand by and hope that self-inflicted damage caused by New Delhi's own policies in Kashmir and, more recently, on citizenship laws, will harm India's reputation and perhaps undercut its recent diplomatic gains with Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE," said the report.

The CRS further states that the issue should be settled through negotiations between India and Pakistan while taking into consideration the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

(With inputs from PTI)