The United States on Thursday called for talks among India, Pakistan and the state of Jammu and Kashmir to end the territorial dispute, The Hindu reported. Spokesperson for the US State Department Mark Toner said, "We want to see dialogue between India, Pakistan and Kashmir on how to resolve the conflict in Kashmir, and our policy hasn’t changed."

This followed India's strong response to Pakistan, after its UN envoy Maleeha Lodhi raised the matter of the ongoing clashes in the Kashmir Valley at a United Nations forum. Lodhi called Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani's killing by Indian forces "extrajudicial". In response, Indian UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said Pakistan was "misusing" the UN platform, calling it a country that "covets the territory of others and uses terrorism as a state policy towards that misguided end".

Earlier, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had criticised Indian security personnel's use of "excessive and unlawful force" against civilians in Jammu and Kashmir during protests triggered by Wani's death. He had also suggested that India hold a plebiscite in the state "to ascertain the will of the people for future alignment with either Pakistan or India".

The toll in the protests triggered by the Hizbul chief's killing has reached 35, with two more deaths recorded on Wednesday. The Health Ministry sent three eye specialists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, to Jammu and Kashmir to help the state treat pellet injuries among those injured.