Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has warned of a "bloodbath" in Kashmir after India last month stripped the Indian-administered part of the disputed Himalayan region of its special autonomy.
In his September 27 address to the UN General Assembly in New York, Khan predicted that the Indian measures in Kashmir would radicalize Muslim youth.
He also urged the international community to intervene to prevent a possible all-out conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
“When we have no other option we will fight and when a nuclear power decides to fight until the end, the consequences are far beyond the region, for the world,” Khan told world leaders.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his speech to the General Assembly shortly before Khan, making no mention of Kashmir or Pakistan.
In its clampdown in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, New Delhi deployed extra troops to the territory, imposed a widespread curfew, and cut all telephone, mobile phone, and Internet connections -- amid reports of mass arrests.
India has since eased some of the curbs.
Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-led India have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, two of which were over control of Kashmir, the divided region claimed by both countries in its entirety.
On September 26, Alice Wells, the top U.S. State Department official for South Asia, said Washington wants India to quickly lift the restrictionsimposed in Kashmir and release those detained.
Wells also said U.S. President Donald Trump "was willing to mediate if asked by both parties," although she acknowledged that Modi had rejected any outside involvement in the decades-long dispute.
The Pakistani side has welcomed Trump’s offer to mediate.
With reporting by dpa and Reuters
