PM Narendra Modi did not ask Trump to mediate in Valley: MEA

india

Updated: Jul 24, 2019 00:17 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi never asked US President Donald Trump to help mediate with Pakistan their dispute over the Kashmir region, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday, after Trump’s comments during a White House interaction with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan set off a storm of criticism.

Trump told reporters on Monday that Modi had asked him, during the G-20 meeting in Japan’s Osaka last month, if he would like to be a mediator on Kashmir, which is at the heart of decades of hostility between India and Pakistan. Pakistan PM welcomed the US effort to intercede, saying he would carry the hopes of more than a billion people in the region.

Speaking in both Houses of Parliament, Jaishankar said Kashmir is a bilateral issue and all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan can only be discussed bilaterally, thereby ruling out any third party mediation.

“I would like to categorically state that no such request has been made by the prime minister to the US President,” he said.

Trump’s claim on Kashmir mediation led to angry reactions from the Opposition. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that if what the US President was true, Modi has betrayed India’s interests.

“A weak Foreign Ministry denial won’t do. PM must tell the nation what transpired in the meeting between him & @POTUS (President of the United States),” Gandhi tweeted.

India has long maintained that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan, and no dialogue is possible as long as Islamabad continues to support cross-border terrorism.

Pakistan has routinely brought up Kashmir and India in meetings with the United States in the past, seeking intervention and mediation. Khan’s pitch, to that extent, was not new. But previous presidents have resisted attempts to involve them, given India’s opposition to third-party mediation.

While Rajya Sabha witnessed repeated adjournments over the issue, the Opposition walked out of Lok Sabha proceedings demanding a statement from the Prime Minister himself.

Soon after the House met for the day at 11 AM, opposition parties ties raked up the issue of Trump’s remarks.

Deputy leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma said India’s position has been consistent and clear on Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and has always maintained that it will not accept third party mediation in purely bilateral issue.

Since Parliament is in session and considering that the comments were made by the President of the world’s most powerful nation to the prime minister of another country, Prime Minister Modi should come to the House and clarify on the issue, he said.

Soon after Trump’s remarks, the US state department went in damage control mode. In a post on Twitter, it said the US supports any dialogue between India and Pakistan but Kashmir was a matter for the two countries. “While Kashmir is a bilateral issue for both parties to discuss, the Trump administration welcomes Pakistan and India sitting down and the United States stands ready to assist,” it said.

Any engagement with Pakistan will require an end to cross border terrorism, the external affairs minister said, adding Shimla and Lahore accords signed between India and Pakistan provide the basis for resolution of all issues bilaterally.

He said any engagement with Pakistan will require an end to cross-border terrorism.

Opposition parties were, however, not satisfied by the statement of Jaishankar and wanted the Prime Minister to come to the House and clarify.

This led to heated exchanges between opposition benches and chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, who adjourned proceedings for nearly an hour.

In the Lok Sabha, the Opposition walked out demanding Modi’s statement on Trump’s remarks.

As soon as the Lower House met for the day, members from the Congress and some other opposition parties were on their feet shouting slogans over the issue.

TR Baalu of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) National Democratic Alliance partner, said since the issue involved the PM, Modi should personally make a statement in the House.

The Democratic chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, spoke to the Indian ambassador to say there was no change in the US position on Kashmir, the committee said on Twitter.