US President Donald Trump said that if needed, the US will mediate between India and Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir. He was speaking at a press conference in Delhi.
"Anything I can do to mediate/help, I would do. They (Pak) are working on Kashmir. Kashmir has been a thorn in lots of people's sight for a long time. There are two sides to every story. We discussed terrorism at length today," he was quoted as saying by ANI.
"Kashmir obviously is a big problem between India and Pakistan, they are going to work out their problem. They have been doing it for a long time." said Trump further.
During the press conference,Trump said that he and PM Narendra Modi spoke about the agreement being worked out between US and terrorist organisation Taliban. The US is engaged in talks with the Taliban with a view to end 18-year war in Afghanistan that has been a major strain on the US militarily and politically. Trump said that he thinks India will "like to see it happen" (the peace deal)
Terrorism and the situation in Afghanistan are both important issues for India. It is well known that Pakistan provides safe havens to terrorists on its soil but Pakistani establishment even provides support to terrorists in Afghanistan.
During his India visit, Trump has, on several occasions warned Pakistan to end support to terrorism.
However, India is observing US movements in Afghanistan carefully as it fears resurgence of Taliban.
Post 9-11 attacks on World Trade Center, the US had vowed to eliminate Taliban from its strongholds in Afghanistan. Though the US was able to topple the regime, the Taliban's footprint could not be wiped out from Afghanistan. The US badly wants to withdraw its forces from the region. However, Indian side contends that this should not give free reign to terrorists, on or off the paper.
