Describing himself as “an extremely good arbitrator”, US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he was ready to mediate between Pakistan and India on the Kashmir issue, but both sides have to agree on that.
Trump made the remarks during his meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York.
“If I can help, I will certainly help,” Trump said, describing the Kashmir issue as a “complex” one which has been going on for a long time.
“If both (Pakistan and India) want, I am ready to do it,” he said, a day after attending ‘Howdy, Modi’ rally in Houston, where he shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and displayed a close friendship and a common vision on fighting terrorism.
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“At any point of time, I would be an extremely good arbitrator,” he said.
Trump praised the ‘Howdy, Modi’ mega rally in presence of Khan and said he has heard a “very aggressive statement” by Prime Minister Modi.
“It was very well received within the room,” Trump said, referring to the gathering of 50,000 people at the NRG stadium in Houston.
During his press interaction alongside Imran Khan, Trump repeatedly snubbed Pakistani reporters and on one occasion even asking one of the journalists whether he is part of the Pakistani delegation.
“Where do you find reporters like these,” Trump asked Khan in response to a question posed by a Pakistani journalist on Kashmir.
Trump and Imran last met in July at the White House. During their first one-on-one interaction, the US president had expressed his willingness to mediate between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue — an offer India rejected.
“All the issues between India and Pakistan are of bilateral in nature, and we don’t want to trouble any third country. We can discuss and resolve these issues bilaterally,” Modi had said.
On his part, Trump had said he and Modi spoke about Kashmir “at great length” during the G7 Summit and he feels that both India and Pakistan can resolve it on their own.
Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after India abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.