US President Donald Trump has said the issue of Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan but he would be happy to mediate if they want him to do so.
Last week, Trump had made a stunning claim that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi asked him to mediate on the vexed issue during theirmeeting in Japan, evoking a sharp reaction from India which denied Modi makingany such request.
“It’s really up to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi (toaccept the offer of mediation),” Trump told reporters responding to aquestion on India not accepting his offer of mediation on Kashmir.
His comments are seen as an apparent climb down from hislast week’s remarks which were dismissed in India as ridiculous and highlyunlikely given that New Delhi has consistently maintained that there is no roomfor a third party mediation on Kashmir.
“Have they accepted the offer or not?”, Trumpasked rhetorically when questioned by a reporter about India’s rejection of hismediation offer.
“I think they are fantastic people — Khan and Modi —I mean. I would imagine they could get along very well, but if they wantedsomebody to intervene, to help them…. And I spoke with Pakistan about that andI spoke frankly in (sic) India about it,” Trump said.
He rued that the issue of Kashmir had been going on for along time.
When asked how he would “want to resolve the Kashmirissue”, Trump said, “If I can, if they wanted me to, I wouldcertainly intervene.”
Last week, in his joint media appearance with Pakistan PrimeMinister Imran Khan in his Oval Office, Trump stunned India by saying that Modisought his mediation/arbitration on the Kashmir issue.
Trump said during their bilateral meeting in Japan in Juneon the sideline of the G-20 Summit Prime Minister Modi had asked him to mediateon the vexed issue.
India quickly denied it and said the Kashmir issue was neverdiscussed between Modi and Trump and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankarmade a statement in Parliament strongly refuting that the Prime Minister hadever made such a request.