US expert on Kashmir who had silenced Pak Fulbright scholar slams Pakistan for howling over Article 370

"The Pakistanis howling over Art 370 are so funny. The same people never howled when their terrorists killed Kashmiris since 1947. They are too daft to see that their terrorists helped to bring this about. Nor do they worry about the Kashmiris they sold to anti-Muslim China," she tweeted.

Dr Christine Fair, a professor at Georgetown University, USA, who is an expert on Kashmir conflict,  a few years ago had asked a Pakistani questionnaire and Fulbright scholar to read the United Nations Security Council Resolution on Kashmir first going to their website before questioning on the issue or claiming that Pakistan has any legal basis on Kashmir or why plebiscite was not held by India.

As the questionnaire said he did not read the resolution, she said : "Read that resolution that every single Pakistani points to but which no one has read ever."

She said as per the UN Security Council Resolution there were three sequential and conditional steps set for India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

"Pakistan was supoosed to demilitarize to the satisfaction of the UN body that was to be established," she said.

"India was also supposed to delimitarise. But the presence being permitted to defend against Pakistani aggression," Fair said.

She said Pakistan never fulfilled the first necessary step which it was needed to comply.

"Having both the two steps taken places to satsifation in sequence to the preferencences of the UN then only the plebiscite will happen," she said.

She said the Pakistani people should blame their government for the fact that the plebiscite never happened.

"Pakistan never fullfiled the first necessary condition," she said.

The plebiscite would have allowed people of Kashmir to decide whether they want to live in India, Pakistan or become an independent state. 

In another tweet, she said: " No. YOU think. What has Pakistan done for Kashmiris other than get them killed? Art 370 had to go. It's unfortunate that Congress didn't do it earlier. Do you ever repine about the Kashmiris living under Pakistan's boot or those sold to China? Get lost."

India takes major steps on Kashmir issue:

In a bold move, the Indian Parliament passed the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 which bifurcated the terror-hit northern state into two Union Territories - J&K, a Union Territory with Legislative Assembly, and Ladakh, a UT without Legislative Assembly.

The Modi government  scrapped Article 35 A and Article 370 which were used to give Jammu and Kashmir a special status.

Article 35A of the Indian Constitution allowed the Jammu and Kashmir state's legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and also provided special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.

Article 370 allowed Jammu and Kashmir to have its own constitution, flag and right to handle its own laws except on matters that impact national security.

Pakistan's knee-jerk reaction:

After downgrading the trade relations with India, Pakistan also stopped the operation of Samjhauta Express and Thar Express which connect the two countries via railway tracks.

Pakistan Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad took to Twitter to say, "We have decided to close the compromised express".

Pakistan on Wednesday expelled Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria apart from downgrading trade relations.

Accusing Pakistan of presenting an alarmist picture of the bilateral ties between the two nations, India has urged Islamabad to review its decision.

No change in policy on Kashmir: US

The United States on on Friday said there is no change in its policy regarding Kashmir.

State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said 'no' when she was asked by reporters if there has been any change in America's policy on Kashmir.

"And if there was, I certainly wouldn’t be announcing it here, but no, there’s not," she told reporters.

She said the US was working closely with the two neighbouring nations.

"We have a lot of engagement with India and Pakistan. Obviously, we just had Prime Minister Khan here, not just because of Kashmir. That’s certainly an incredibly important issue and something that we follow closely, but we have a host of issues that we work with India on quite closely and that we work with Pakistan on quite closely. I would say that we are – as a State Department, we are incredibly engaged in Southeast Asia," she said.