Though US President Donald Trump offered to mediate between India and Pakistan over Kashmir issue, POTUS, on his recent visit to India is learnt to have told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he does not intend to do so. According to what Donald Trump has told Prime Minister Modi, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been seeking mediation on the Kashmir issue by the United States. The conversation between Trump and Modi is said to have taken place during the bilateral conversation between the two leaders on Monday and Tuesday.
Imran Khan keeps pressing Donald Trump to mediate on the Kashmir issue every time they meet, a government source privy to the discussions has said. Trump, however, has made it clear that he does not intend to do so.
During a press conference in New Delhi on Day 2 of his India visit, Donald Trump was asked what he thinks about the cross-border that India faces from Pakistan. To this, he said he discussed the issue of terrorism with PM Modi during his talks with him.
President Trump said he discussed Pakistan with PM Modi. "I have a good equation with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan too. They (Pakistan) are working to control cross-border terrorism," President Trump said.
He, however, added that he is willing to help the two countries and mediate because he shares good equations with the two prime ministers. "If anything I can do to mediate, I will do," he said.
Later in the press conference when he was specifically asked about his mediation offer that he had floated after the Modi government decided to abrogate Article 370, President Trump said, "I didn't say anything about that (mediation)."
He said Kashmir has been a "thorn in lot of people's sides" for a long time and there are two sides to every story.
This was not the first time when the US President has offered to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. Trump, who met Imran Khan last month in Davos, had said that the US is "watching and closely following" the developments between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after New Delhi revoked Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two union territories. Since then Pakistan has continuously tried to internationalise the issue but has failed to get support on the same.
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