Discussed wall not payment in meeting with Mexican prez: Trump

From Lalit K Jha Washington, Sep 1 (PTI) Republican presidential candidateDonald Trump has defended the right of the US to build a wallalong its southern border during his visit to Mexico, butstirred controversy after his claim of not having discussedwho would pay for it was disputed by the Mexican President. "We did discuss the wall. We didn’t discuss payment ofthe wall. That’ll be for a later date. This was a verypreliminary meeting," Trump told reporters at a joint newsconference with Nieto after the meeting between the twoleaders yesterday. The Mexican president did not respond at that point, butlater tweeted, "At the start of the conversation with DonaldTrump, I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall." Building a massive wall along the US border with Mexicoand forcing the neighbouring country to pay for it has been afrequent promise during Trump’s divisive election campaign. He argued yesterday that having a secure border is asovereign right and is mutually beneficial for both countries. "We recognise and respect the right of either country tobuild a physical barrier or wall on any of its borders to stopthe illegal movement of people, drugs and weapons. Cooperationtoward achieving the shared objective to both the UnitedStates and to Mexico," he said. The 70-year-old real estate baron has previously madecontroversial statements about Mexico, terming migrants fromthe country as "rapists" and "murderers". Pena Nieto, who in the past has compared Trump to AdolfHitler, said Mexicans had been hurt by some of theRepublican’s comments but said he believed he now genuinelywanted to build relations. "That there has been a misinterpretation or assertionsthat regrettably had hurt and has affected Mexicans and it’sperception of his candidacy of which I am fully respectful,"Pena Nieto said. "Mexican people have felt hurt by the comments that havebeen made. But I am sure that his genuine interest is to builda relationship that will give both of our society’s betterwelfare," he said. The US and Mexico share a 2,000-mile border and a half atrillion dollars in annual trade. PTI LKJ BSABSA