Pakistan, Aug. 22 -- US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor has called India-held Kashmir "an important part of India". This statement has rightly upset many people. Kashmir is not a settled matter. It is a disputed territory. The United Nations has said so for decades. No single ambassador can change that fact with one comment during a visit to Srinagar.

AJK President Chaudhry Latif Akbar has called the remarks deeply regrettable. He is correct. Simply controlling land does not decide who owns it legally. The Kashmir dispute has stayed on the UN Security Council's agenda for many years.

Several UN resolutions have promised the Kashmiri people a chance to decide their own future through a free vote.

America itself once supported this idea. ...