US President Donald Trump again offers to mediate on Kashmir
Washington, Aug 2 (IBNS): Just weeks after his comment had triggered a controversy in India, US President Donald Trump has once again offered to mediate the Kashmir issue and described Indian PM Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan as 'fantastic people'.
"Well, that’s up to — it’s really up to Prime Minister Modi. And I met with Prime Minister Khan; I got along great with — I think they’re a fantastic people, Khan and Modi. I mean, I would imagine they can get along very well," Trump told reporters.
"But if they wanted somebody to intervene or to help them — and I spoke with Pakistan about that, and I spoke, frankly, to India about it. But that’s been going on, that battle, for a long time," he said.
Trump added that he was ready to intervene in the Kashmir issue.
"If I can — if they wanted me to, I would certainly intervene," he said.
What did Trump say earlier?
Earlier reports said US President Donald Trump has offered to help resolve the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan during his meeting with Pakistan President Imran Khan in Washington.
Hosting Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House on Monday, Trump said: “If I can help, I would love to be a mediator.” “If I can do anything to help, let me know,” he added, according to reports.
"I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago and we talked about this subject and he actually said 'Would you like to be a mediator or arbitrator', I said 'Where', He said 'Kashmir'. Because this has been going on for many, many years... I think they would like to see it resolved and you (Imran Khan) would like to see it resolved. If I can help, I would love to be a mediator," President Trump said at the joint media briefing with Imran Khan.
The US has held for long that the Kashmir issue should be sorted by India and Pakistan bilaterally.
India rejected Trump's claim
In response to query on President Trump’s remarks, India's Ministry of External Affairs' official spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, “We have seen President Trump's remarks to the press that he is ready to mediate, if requested by India and Pakistan, on the Kashmir issue. No such request has been made by Prime Minister to the US President."
"It has been India's consistent position that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed only bilaterally. Any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to cross border terrorism. The Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration provide the basis to resolve all issues between India and Pakistan bilaterally,” Kumar said.
Congress demanded PM to clarify in Parliament
Congress, the main opposition party in the country, had demanded a clarification from Prime Minister Modi in the parliament over the issue. "The country has strictly adhered to the SHimla Accord and Lahore Declaration throughout. But when the head of the most powerful country has made such a statement, then it has serious consequences. So the Prime Minister must be present in the House to clarify," Congress Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma had said.
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