Donald Trump on Kashmir issue: EAM S Jaishankar makes stance clear again

Bangkok: S Jaishankar, minister for external affairs took to Twitter to make it clear that the Kashmir issue is a bilateral one. He said that he has “conveyed to his American counterpart @SecPompeo this morning in clear terms that any discussion on Kashmir, if at all warranted, will only be with Pakistan and only bilaterally.”

Donald Trump, President of the USA had once again raked up the issue of Kashmir and said that he could intervene between India and Pakistan if the countries wished for him to.

"It is really up to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi (to accept the offer of mediation)," Donald Trump told reporters responding to a question on India not accepting his offer of mediation on Kashmir.

"I think they are fantastic people - (Imran) Khan and (Narendra) Modi - I mean, I would imagine they could get along very well, but if they wanted somebody to intervene, to help them.... and I spoke with Pakistan about that and I spoke frankly in (sic) India about it," Donald Trump said.

He said that the issue of Kashmir had been going on for a long time. When asked how would he "want to resolve the Kashmir issue,'' Donald Trump said, "If I can, if they wanted me to, I would certainly intervene."

Last week, in his joint media appearance with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Oval Office, Donald Trump stunned India by claiming that Prime Minister Modi sought his mediation/arbitration on the Kashmir issue.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Thursday, 1 August, attended the ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok where he had “discussions on furthering ASEAN-India strategic partnership in the Indo-Pacific.”

He had earlier met with his Thai and New Zealand counterparts separately in Bangkok and discussed a host of key issues, including Indo-Pacific and maritime partnership.
 

Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.