Pakistan summons US diplomat after ambassador's Kashmir remarks

Pakistan summoned the most senior US diplomat in Islamabad on Wednesday, hours after US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor made his first visit to Indian-administered Kashmir and described the region as “an important part of India.” Islamabad rejected the comment and reaffirmed that Kashmir is disputed territory.

Gor, who also serves as President Donald Trump’s special envoy for South and Central Asia, is the first sitting US ambassador to visit Indian-controlled Kashmir since 2019, the year India stripped the region of its autonomy. His remarks, delivered publicly alongside Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, drew sharp criticism from Islamabad.

The incident comes at a sensitive juncture in Washington’s relations with the two rival South Asian powers. Pakistan has drawn closer to the Trump administration in recent years, while the US seeks to balance that with its strategic partnership with India.

US envoy’s comments and Pakistan’s reaction

Sergio Gor, a 38-year-old former Trump aide confirmed as US ambassador to India in January, spent two days in Srinagar and Ladakh this week. After meeting Abdullah in Srinagar, he told reporters he was delighted to visit “an important part of India” for the first time. He also said Washington was reviewing its “do not travel” advisory, citing improved security under Abdullah’s administration. The current advisory places Jammu and Kashmir at “Do Not Travel” due to terrorism and civil unrest, though it exempts the eastern territories of Ladakh and Leh.

That evening, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry summoned Natalie Baker, the chargé d’affaires currently heading the US mission in the country. The ministry issued a “strong protest note” rejecting the characterization of Indian-controlled Kashmir as “a part of India,” and reaffirming that it is internationally recognized disputed territory pending a final settlement under UN Security Council resolutions. The statement called Gor’s remarks inaccurate and contrary to Washington’s longstanding position. Pakistan also thanked Trump for his offer to help resolve the Kashmir issue and urged Washington to keep its public language consistent with that stance.

Why Kashmir draws strong reactions

Kashmir is a Himalayan region that India and Pakistan have both claimed in full since the end of British colonial rule in August 1947. Each country administers a portion of the territory, and the two have fought wars over it. A 1949 UN Security Council resolution called for a plebiscite to determine the region’s final status, but such a vote has never been held.

In June, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas signed a joint statement with Pakistan’s foreign minister in Islamabad that referenced Kashmir alongside the war in Ukraine and called for a resolution “through dialogue and diplomacy.” India rejected the mention. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also drawn Delhi’s ire at least twice for expressing support for Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir. In 2019, then-President Trump sparked controversy by saying Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate, though Modi’s government quickly denied it.

For Pakistan, US language acknowledging Kashmir’s disputed status is important international validation of its efforts to internationalize the issue. For India, any suggestion that Kashmir remains open to outside mediation cuts against its core position.

US historical stance

The US officially maintains that Kashmir is disputed territory and that its fate should be settled between India and Pakistan, taking into account the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. US officials have repeatedly repeated the phrase “our policy has not changed” across administrations. Formally, Washington avoids recognizing any party’s sovereignty over the region.

A major turning point came in 1999, when President Bill Clinton pressured Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to withdraw troops from Kargil in Indian-administered Kashmir after cross-border clashes. Analysts view that episode as the start of Washington’s tilt toward Delhi. But after the most serious confrontation between the two nuclear-armed rivals in decades last year, Trump claimed credit for a ceasefire and offered to “work with both” on a “solution” for Kashmir. Pakistan welcomed the offer and even nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, while India dismissed any US mediation proposal.

Former Pakistani Foreign Minister Jauhar Saleem, now head of the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad, told Al Jazeera that Gor’s remarks should not be mistaken for a change in US policy. “US policy on an issue as significant as Jammu and Kashmir cannot be read from a stray comment made during a trip by a US ambassador in India,” he said. “Any policy change would be reflected in official statements from Washington, in the language of the State Department, and at the White House level.”

Saleem called it a classic case of “local disease” where ambassadors make comments that deviate from their own country’s policy to please their host nation. He said Pakistan’s reaction was predictable and expected Washington to issue a clarification soon. Other veteran Pakistani diplomats, including Tariq Rashid Khan and former Ambassador to the US Aizaz Chaudhry, also viewed the incident as a “boundary-setting” matter, not one that affects the broader bilateral relationship, which includes economic cooperation, counterterrorism, regional security, and Pakistan’s mediating role between the US and Iran.