Donald Trump reiterates offer to mediate between Pakistan, India on Kashmir issue

Updated 02 Aug, 2019

United States President Donald Trump reiterated that he was ready to mediate between Pakistan and India on Kashmir issue if both the neighbours wanted.

Addressing a presser on Thursday, the US president said that he met Prime Minister Imran Khan and he 'got along great with him'. Referring to his mediation offer to India which the latter rejected, Trump said that it is really up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said if Pakistan and India wants somebody to intervene he was ready to assist. He further said that he had made the offer both to Pakistan and India. "I think they’re  fantastic people, Khan and Modi. I mean, I would imagine they can get along very well," Trump added.

However, India once again refused Trump's offer. Minister of External Affairs of India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Friday took to his Twitter handle and wrote, "Have conveyed to American counterpart  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this morning in clear terms that any discussion on Kashmir, if at all warranted, will only be with Pakistan and only bilaterally."

On PM Khan's visit to the US last month, Trump had offered to mediate and improve the relations between Pakistan and India. He also shared that Modi had asked him to act as a mediator. However, following Trump's statement, India’s external affairs ministry denied that Modi ever made the offer.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019

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