Macron upholds bilateral solution on Kashmir during Modi's visit to France

Stating that India and Pakistan will have to find a bilateral solution regarding the ongoing situation in Jammu and Kashmir, France President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday asserted that no third party should interfere or incite violence.

"Prime Minister Modi told me everything about Kashmir and the current situation in the region. I said Pakistan and India will have to find a solution together and no third party should interfere or incite violence," Macron said during an interaction followed by delegation-level talks.

"Prime Minister Modi told me about the recent decision taken by India and that it is in their sovereignty," the French President added.

Prime Minister Modi arrived here early on Thursday and headed for a bilateral meeting with the French President where the two sides discussed various issues of mutual interest.

Pakistan has ramped up its rhetoric against India and endlessly trying to involve the international community in the wake of New Delhi's decision to revoke Article 370 that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir. This move comes despite the latter's, time and again, reiteration that the matter is strictly "internal" to the country.

Rattled by India's move, Pakistan, last week, had sent its Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to China to seek its help at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), urging it to call an emergency meeting on the issue. However, four out of five permanent members in the United Nations did not support Pakistan contentions over India's decision.

The cash-strapped nation has also alleged that India's decision of revoking the provisions under Article 370 will not only threaten the regional peace but also the world peace and further downgraded its diplomatic ties with its neighbour and suspended bilateral trade in the wake of it.

However, at the end of the UNSC meeting, last week, China and Pakistan stood isolated as members after others refused to endorse their position.