India has denied the claim made by United States President Donald Trump that Indian PM had requested him to mediate on the Kashmir issue. Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, confirmed that no such request has been made by Narendra Modi. He added, “it has been India’s consistent position that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed only bilaterally. Any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to cross border terrorism. The Shimla Agreement & the Lahore Declaration provide the basis to resolve all issues between India & Pakistan bilaterally”.
…that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed only bilaterally. Any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to cross border terrorism. The Shimla Agreement & the Lahore Declaration provide the basis to resolve all issues between India & Pakistan bilaterally.2/2
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) July 22, 2019
Earlier today President of USA Donald Trump had created a storm by claiming that he was requested by Narendra Modi on the long-standing Kashmir dispute. He had made this comment while addressing a joint press conference with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in Washington DC.
On a question on Kashmir, Imran Khan had said that the President of the most powerful country in the world is best suited to resolve the issue, and he requested Trump to mediate between India and Pakistan. To this Trump responded, “I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago, we talked about this subject, and he actually said, ‘would you like to be a mediator, or arbitrator’, I said where, he said Kashmir”. He added, if I can help, I would love to be a mediator. Although he also said that it is impossible that two incredible countries with very smart leadership can’t solve a problem like this. But if you would want me to mediate or arbitrate, I would be willing to do.
#WATCH Washington DC: Pakistan PM Imran Khan and US President Donald Trump reply to journalists when asked on Kashmir. pic.twitter.com/UM51rbsIYF
— ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2019
Imran Khan was visibly elated with this reply, who said that Trump will have the prayer of over a billion people if he can mediate on this issue.
It was expected that India will deny this claim by POTUS, and the MEA issues the statement on Twitter within just an hour of the news of the comment became available. The MEA spokesperson said that no such request thas been made by PM Narendra Modi to the US President.
It has been India’s longstanding position that Kashmir is a bilateral issue and no third party intervention is welcome. Pakistan has been trying to bring the issue to the international level, have tried to bring various countries and UN as mediators, but India has been successfully resisting that attempt.
It may be noted that although president Trump claimed about Modi requesting him to mediate on Kashmir, in the official statement issued by White House on Imran Khan’s visit, it was not mentioned. The statement does not even mention Kashmir. Therefore it can be presumed PM Modi has not made any such request with the president, and he may have misunderstood something Modi said during their meeting at the G-20 summit in Japan last month.
