Pakistan says Afghan peace talks will suffer if India resorts to violence after Kashmir attack

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Zahid Nasrullah on Tuesday said that the Afghan peace talks will be affected if India resorts to violence against Pakistan after the attack on Indian soldiers in Kashmir.

A suicide bomb attack on a paramilitary police convoy in Kashmir last Thursday killed at least 40 men, the deadliest single attack on Indian forces.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) group claimed responsibility for the attack. India accuses Pakistan for harboring the group. Pakistan denies that.

The U.S. envoys say Pakistan has an important role to play in the Afghan peace effort, given its links to the Taliban.

Taliban representatives are due to meet U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalizad in Qatar on Feb. 25 in the next round of talks to end America's longest war.

Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.

Also, in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire came into effect in 2003.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.