Angela Merkel calls Kashmir situation 'not sustainable' during India visit

Last Friday Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a peaceful solution to the latest crisis in the long-running conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.

"The way the situation is for the people there is not sustainable and not good," Merkel said during a visit to India primarily concerned with economic relations.

Speaking in New Delhi after the fifth German-Indian government consultations, Merkel said: "We are working for de-escalation and a reduction in tensions and we wish above all that India and Pakistan will be able to find a peaceful solution with each other."

Merkel said she wanted to discuss the crisis region on the border between the two countries with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  

The Kashmir region in the Himalayas is partitioned between India, Pakistan and China. Three months ago, the Indian government revoked the autonomous status of the part under its control.

As Pakistan claims the Indian part of Kashmir, this led to an increase in tension between the two nuclear powers that have fought two wars over the region since independence from Britain in 1947.

Modi plans to integrate the region, which has a majority Muslim population, more closely into India, with its largely Hindu population. New Delhi sent tens of thousands of troops into the region in August to counter protests by the local population.    (dpa)