Ahead of US President Donald Trump's maiden visit to India from February 24-25, the White House has stated that the President would "encourage a reduction in tensions between India and Pakistan" and to "engage in bilateral dialogue with each other to resolve their differences (over Kashmir)."

A senior administration official responded to a question that if the US President would offer to mediate on the Kashmir issue again during his upcoming Indian visit, and said, "I think what you will hear from the President is very much encouraging a reduction in tensions between India and Pakistan, encouraging the two countries to engage in bilateral dialogue with each other to resolve their differences."

"[...] I think the President will urge both countries to seek to maintain peace and stability along the Line of Control (LoC) and refrain from actions or statements that could increase tensions in the region," said the official.

Importantly, the White House also said that Trump will raise the issue of religious freedom with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to India next week, noting that the US has great respect for India's democratic traditions and institutions and will continue to encourage it to uphold those values.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan American federal entity, published a "factsheet", claiming that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) represents a significant downturn in religious freedom in India.

"President Trump will talk about our shared tradition of democracy and religious freedom both in his public remarks and then certainly in private. He will raise these issues, particularly the religious freedom issue, which is extremely important to this administration," a senior official at the White House told reporters in a conference call on Friday. The official was responding to a question on whether the president was planning to speak to Prime Minister Modi on the CAA or the National Register of Citizens (NRC).