india

Updated: Jun 17, 2020 22:12 IST

Shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of “extreme rhetoric and incitement to anti-India violence” not being conducive to peace in the region, President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Imran Khan, the unidentified culprit, to tell him “to reduce tensions and moderate rhetoric”.

In a day of fast-paced developments starting with a phone call between Modi and Trump and followed by one between Trump and Khan, the United States president sought to make clear his priority was to reduce tensions in the region.

“Spoke to my two good friends, Prime Minister Modi of India, and Prime Minister Khan of Pakistan, regarding Trade, Strategic Partnerships and, most importantly, for India and Pakistan to work towards reducing tensions in Kashmir,” Trump wrote on Twitter Monday, referring to phone calls with Modi and Khan.

“A tough situation, but good conversations!”

Trump has been effusive in his praise and personal regard of PM Modi, calling him, previously, a “good friend” and a “great gentleman”, as he has been with other world leaders such as China’s Xi Jinping and Japan’s Shinzo Abe. UK’s Boris Johnson joined that list in a later tweet Monday.

But including Khan in that category of “good friends” may mark a significant departure for the president who had rung in the year 2018 with a devastating tweet accusing Pakistan of returning only “lies and deceit” for the billions in aid it had received from the United States to battle terrorists it was supporting.

After the morning call with Modi, Trump spoke to Khan, for the second time in four days. “The President reaffirmed the need to avoid escalation of the situation, and urged restraint on both sides,” said the White House on that call, adding, “The two leaders also agreed to work together to strengthen United States-Pakistan economic and trade cooperation.”

In an earlier phone conversation, Prime Minister Modi had complained to President Trump about “extreme rhetoric” emanating from Pakistan, without naming it, and the American president has stressed the “importance” of reducing tensions between India and Pakistan and maintaining peace in the region.

In the same call, Trump had stressed the “importance of reducing tensions between India and Pakistan and maintaining peace in the region.”

Trump followed up with a call to Khan shortly after. “The President reaffirmed the need to avoid escalation of the situation, and urged restraint on both sides,” a White House readout of their conversation said.