Trump reiterates offer to mediate on Kashmir issue

[ahlam1399]

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has once again offered to mediate between Pakistan and India on the longstanding Kashmir dispute, saying he is willing to intervene but ultimately left the decision to the leaders of the two countries.“If they [Pakistan and India] wanted somebody to intervene or to help them,” Trump said in response to a question from a reporter at the White House about his earlier offer to mediate the issue. “I spoke with Pakistan about that, and I spoke, frankly, to India about it. But that’s been going on, that battle, for a long time.”The US president at his meeting last month with Prime Minister Imran Khan, had offered to help to resolve the Kashmir issue. Pakistan welcomed it, but India rejected the offer stressing there could not be any third-party intervention on the issue. “Well, that’s up to — it’s really up to Prime Minister Modi. And I met with Prime Minister Khan; I got along great with — I think they’re a fantastic people, Khan and Modi. I mean, I would imagine they can get along very well,” he said. Trump added: “If I can — if they wanted me to, I would certainly intervene.”However, Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar quickly rejected Trump’s offer to mediate. In a tweet on Friday, he wrote: “Have conveyed to American counterpart Mike Pompeo this morning in clear terms that any discussion on Kashmir, if at all warranted, will only be with Pakistan and only bilaterally.”Afterwards, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi urged the United States to use its influence to persuade India to come to the table for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute. Qureshi said India was avoiding the talks and did not appear willing to negotiate on the matter.“India is involved in a bloodbath [in occupied Kashmir]. India insists it is a bilateral matter, but it is not even willing to come to the table for talks,” the foreign minister told Geo News. “Trump offered mediation keeping in view the regional situation. We thank [him] for the offer, and we have expressed our willingness,” Qureshi said.“We want peace. Our focus right now is the Afghan peace process. If India [tries to] create any obstacle to the peace process in Afghanistan, regional peace will suffer. India won’t agree easily to the Kashmir talks. [We urge] the US to exercise its influence and persuade India [to come to the table],” the foreign minister said, adding that he was writing a letter to the United Nations secretary general in this regard.Pakistan has often sought third-party mediation in the decades-old dispute which has cost tens of thousands of lives, but the idea is anathema to India, which inexplicably insists the issue can only be resolved bilaterally.Trump had set off a political storm in India by saying during a news conference in Washington with the Prime Minister Khan that Modi had asked him to mediate in the Kashmir dispute. “I will say that we have a very good relationship with India. I know that your relationship was strained a little bit … maybe a lot,” Trump had said. “But we will be talking about India, it will be a big part of the conversation today. If I can help, I would love to be a mediator. If I can do anything to help, let me know,” the US president had said.Khan on his first official visit to the United States, stressed by saying the Kashmir issue could only be resolved with outside help. “Bilaterally, there will never be (an end to the Kashmir conflict),” Khan told Fox News, adding that Pakistan and India were “poles apart”. “I really feel that India should come... (to) the table. The US could play a big part, President Trump certainly can play a big part.”http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/SGNOmfPuUVE

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