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US denies sponsoring secret diplomacy: AFP

The United States on Wednesday denied reports that it is sponsoring a secret diplomatic initiative aimed at solving the dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

"We are not and have not done any such thing," said State Department spokesman Philip Reeker.

"The United States has not changed our approach to Kashmir. We do not see ourselves as mediators," he told reporters.

The denial followed reports on the Jane's Intelligence Digest website that the United States was using an unnamed American Kashmiri on a peace shuttle mission between New Delhi, Islamabad and Washington.

Reeker said the United States would continue to "urge restraint and dialogue" and do what it could to encourage both to resolve differences but did not envisage a mediatory role.

Any mediators active on the Kashmir issue would be "acting on their own personal behalf", he said.

India has consistently rejected third-party mediation over Kashmir and accuses Pakistan of fomenting an insurgency in the divided Himalayan region. Officials in Islamabad and New Delhi declined to shed further light on the report on Wednesday.

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