Washington : US President Donald Trump on Thursday reiterated his offer to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue but said this time that it is up to New Delhi and Islamabad to decide on mediation and that he is ready to assist if both the neighbouring countries wanted him to solve the matter.
Trump’s remarks comes days after his comment on Kashmir caused a stir in New Delhi. He claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to act as a mediator between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue.
On the mediation offer, Trump said “It is really up to PM Modi. And I met with Prime Minister [Imran] Khan; I got along great. I think they are fantastic people, Khan and Modi. I mean I would imagine they can get along very well”, Trump said while responding to a question on India not accepting his offer of mediation on Kashmir. “If I can – if they wanted me to, I would certainly intervene,” he added.
Earlier External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had refuted that Modi ever made that request.
