No change in policy on Kashmir: US

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.

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.