The Congress leaders maintained that Indian defence forces had attained complete superiority and dominance over Pakistan before the sudden "ceasefire" was announced by US President Donald Trump.
Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM has threatened to break its 27-year-old ceasefire agreement with the government and return to its "armed struggle" if its demands for a separate "national flag and constitution" are not met.
'We have had three wars with India, and they have only brought more misery, poverty, and unemployment to the people'
"The government's position for bilateral redressal of all India-Pakistan issues in an environment free of terror and violence hasn't changed."
Boycotting the Champions Trophy will not tackle the issue we have with Pakistan, points out Aakar Patel.
Pakistan has warned the international community that any military moves by India shall be 'responded to assuredly and decisively... onus of any escalatory spiral and its consequences shall squarely lie with India.' Implicit in the statement is a veiled threat that even a nuclear threshold may be reached if push comes to shove, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"We are capable of properly resolving the issues between us through dialogue and consultation. We do not need the intervention of the third party", he said.
Guterres referred to the Simla Agreement, which is a bilateral agreement and rejects any third-party mediation in the issue.
Dave Cameron, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board, has urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India to sort the issue of his country's pull-out from their India tour midway into the series last year through a bilateral discussion or third-party mediation over the next two months.
With US President Barack Obama visiting India next month, the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference said it would launch a signature campaign on Monday, calling for America's intervention as a third party to resolve the Kashmir issue.
The US president previously offered to mediate between India and Pakistan, a proposal rejected by New Delhi which maintains that there is no role for any third party in bilateral issues.
India has not been engaging with Pakistan since an attack on the air force base at Pathankot in January of 2016 by Pakistan-based terrorists, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together.
"I think they are fantastic people - Khan and Modi -- I mean. I would imagine they could get along very well, but if they wanted somebody to intervene, to help them.... and I spoke with Pakistan about that and I spoke frankly in (sic) India about it," Trump said.
Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate faction of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, has welcomed United States President Barack Obama's stance on the Kashmir dispute."President Obama offered help in facilitating the negotiations between India and Pakistan as the trust between the two key parties has been shattered. We, the people of Kashmir, are happy with the outcome. We have never ever called for third party mediation," he said.
'When the decision was announced, the possibilities of cross border infiltration and terrorism, we know that there would be incitement to violence. We have simply taken preventive steps'
The external affairs minister said all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan can be discussed only bilaterally.
Rebuffed by the Obama administration on its effort to seek US intervention on Kashmir, Pakistan has said that it has never made such a "demand" and just presented its wish list to Americans on the issue.
In the first sign of forward movement to resolve the impasse on Singur issue, the first round of talks between West Bengal government and Trinamool Congress will be held on September 5.Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi agreed to preside over the talks between a state government panel and a five-member delegation of TC, but he declined to be viewed as a third party mediator.West Bengal government welcomed Mamata's remarks as a positive sign.
Pakistan has been insisting on third party mediation on the Kashmir issue, a demand outrightly rejected by India which wants it to be dealt bilaterally. But chairman of the Pakistan People's Party that leads the ruling coalition had said recently that the ties between the two countries should not be held hostage to the Kashmir issue, which should be left for future generations to resolve.
Islamabad has in the past tried to involve the United States and the European Union in the issue.
When addressing issues, it's crucial to focus on specific behaviours rather than personal characteristics to maintain objectivity and reduce personal offence, suggests Sonica Aron, founder, Marching Sheep.
Trump said the tensed situation also has a lot to do with religion. "It's a complicated situation. A lot has to do with religion. Religion is a complicated subject," he said.
India's action is unacceptable, says US Senator Bernie Sanders.
'Trump will absolutely back New Delhi on its position that Pakistan must do more to crack down on terrorists that threaten India.'
"we're talking about Kashmir and the relation to what's going on with Pakistan and India. And if we can help, we certainly will be helping," the President said.
"The way out is through dialogue. Use your friends... Use them for dialogue to resolve the issue," he said.
'Whether it was a habitual expression of post truth or an open offer to India and Pakistan, even Imran Khan could not have believed it,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Warren urged India to respect the rights of the people of Kashmir.
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Ruling out any third party intervention on the Kashmir issue, Union Minister Shashi Tharoor said had Pakistan acted in the spirit of the Simla accord the question of external mediation would not have come up.
Trump, addressing reporters at the UN on Wednesday, said he has had "very productive conversations" with leaders of India and Pakistan on the margins of the UN General Assembly. "With respect to Pakistan and India, we talked about Kashmir. Whatever help I can be, I said, I offered, whether it's arbitration or mediation or whatever it has to be."
The United States has ruled out any mediation on the Kashmir issue as long as India rejects such a proposal and asked Pakistan to avoid employing militancy as an instrument of state policy.
Both Khan and Modi are scheduled to address the UN General Assembly on September 27.
"I'll see Prime Minister Modi and I will -- we'll -- be meeting with (prime ministers of) India and Pakistan," Trump told reporters in response to a question at the White House on Monday.
Trump on Wednesday said he offered 'arbitration or mediation' on the Kashmir issue to the leadership of India and Pakistan during his meetings with Modi and Khan and the two nuclear-armed neighbours have to 'just work it out'.
Any settlement with Pakistan won't last unless it comes with big power guarantees, says Shekhar Gupta.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday asserted that the government will not allow India's pride to be hurt under any circumstances even as he said bilateral talks were on at military and diplomatic levels to resolve the row.
The issued rocked both houses of Parliament with the Opposition demanding Modi's statement on Trump's controversial remarks, holding that Kashmir is a bilateral issue and no third party can intervene.
The Secretary-General's Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric during the daily press briefing on Thursday said the UN chief has underscored the need for dialogue as the only way to resolve the issue and, "as part of the solution for the current crisis in Kashmir, to make sure that human rights aspects are very much dealt with, as well."
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa discussed the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with China's Central Military Commission Vice-Chairman Xu Qiliang when he visited the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi with a high-level delegation on Monday
The country opened its airspace for all flights except for New Delhi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur on March 27.
