U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders said on September 22 in a newspaper article that the Narendra Modi-Donald Trump rally is happening at a time when Kashmir remains under lockdown. “When President (Donald) Trump meets with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Houston, “We will hear much about the friendship between the American and Indian peoples,” the 77-year-old leader said in an opinion piece in Houston Chronicle.

“However, there will be a deafening silence” on the “human rights crisis” in Kashmir, he added.

Addressing the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America in Houston on September 21, Mr. Sanders said that he was “deeply concerned” about the situation in Kashmir and asked the U.S. government to “speak out boldly” in support of a UN-backed peaceful resolution to resolve the issue.