As the US president finished his two-day visit to India on Tuesday, hours after holding bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump once again floated his mediation offer over Kashmir issue.
During a press conference in New Delhi on Day 2 of his India visit, Donald Trump was asked what he thinks about the cross-border that India faces from Pakistan. To this he said he discussed the issue of violence with PM Modi during his talks with him.
President Trump said he discussed Pakistan with PM Modi. “I have a good equation with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan too. They (Pakistan) are working to control cross-border violence,” President Trump said.
He however added that he is willing to help the two countries and mediate because he shares good equations with the two prime ministers. “If anything I can do to mediate, I will do,” he said.
“We talked a lot about it today. I said I will do whatever I can do to help as my relationship with both gentlemen (PM Modi and Pakistan PM Imran Khan) is so good…Anything I can do to mediate/help, I’d do. They (Pakistan) are working on Kashmir,” President Trump said.
Later in the press conference when he was specifically asked about his mediation offer that he had floated after the Modi government decided to abrogate Article 370, President Trump said, “I didn’t say anything about that (mediation).”
He said Kashmir has been a “thorn in lot of people’s sides” for a long time and there are two sides to every story.
“Kashmir obviously is a big problem between India and Pakistan. They are going to work out their problem. They have been doing it for a long time,” he said.
He described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “tough” leader and negotiator on a number of times. During this period he engaged in soft diplomacy at ‘Namaste, Trump’ event in Gujarat, did some tough negotiations on trade issues and had free-wheeling discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a range other issues including cross-border violence from Pakistan and the Citizenship Amendment Act in the view of allegations of discrimination against Muslims under the current government.
At the end, he wound up his India tour with praise for PM Modi while presenting himself as a “tough” US president building a case for his own reelection later this year. At the press conference before officially ending his India tour, Trump gave a big thumbs up to PM Modi over the CAA that sparked off protests across the country and his way of dealing with Pakistan over cross-border violence.
On a question over the CAA and ongoing protests against it, Trump said, “We did talk about religious freedom and I would say the prime minister was incredible on what he told. He wants people to have religious freedom and very strongly said that in India they have worked very hard to have open religious freedom.”
Trump clearly rejected the allegation that the Modi government has targeted Muslims through the new citizenship law. If that was not enough, Trump – on a more direct question on the CAA — said, “I don’t want to discuss that. I want to leave that to India. Hopefully, there are going to make the right decision for the people. That is really up to India.”
On alleged discrimination against Muslims, Trump said, “We discussed that. We discussed specifically Muslims and we discussed Christiansand I had a very powerful answer from the prime minister. And, we discussed the religious liberty for a long period of time in front of a lot of people, and got a very very powerful answer.”
“As far as Muslims are concerned, he [PM Modi] told me they have 200 million Muslims in India and a fairly short while ago there had 140 million. He said they are working very closely with the Muslim community,” Trump told reporters in New Delhi.
He said, “We talked a lot about Pakistan. I have a very good relationship with Prime Minister [Imran] Khan [of Pakistan]. We talked about it at length today with Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi. No question, it’s [violence] is a problem and it is a problem they are working on it.”
“I said I will do whatever I can do to help because my relationship with both gentlemen is so good. But there has been difficulty in Pakistan. But we are seeing what we can do about it. Anything I can do to mediate or anything I can do to help I would do,” Trump said.
But did he mean that Trump wanted to mediate over Kashmir or between PM Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan given that India and Pakistan have almost no diplomatic engagement since Pulwama terror strike.
However, later on, a direct question about his mediation offer that he had given in 2019 also, Trump said, “I did not say I will mediateI said Kashmir is a big problem between Pakistan and India. I think there are going to work out their problem. They are doing it for a long time.”
On Kashmir issue, Trump gave a spin with a “two sides” remark. He said, “They [India and Pakistan] are working on Kashmir. Kashmir is a thorn in a lot of people’s sight for a long time. And, there are two sides of every story.”
Trump said, “They are working on violenceHe [PM Modi] is very very against violence. I tell you Prime Minister Modi is a very religious man, he is a very calm man but he is actually a very strong person, very tough actually. I have seen him in action. He has got it foremost on his mind – violence. He will take care of it.”
His two-day India tour was the first bilateral visit after he was acquitted of impeachment charges earlier this month.
Trump used this tour to give a message to his constituency back home in the US that he has done a lot for the country and his reelection will only benefit the US and help its economic rise in the times of global economic slowdown.
“Kashmir obviously is a big problem between India and Pakistan,” Trump said, while addressing the media after meeting Modi in New Delhi. “They are going to work out their problem. They have been doing it for a long time.”
The US president finished his two-day visit to India on Tuesday. He said he had discussed religious freedom also with Modi, but added that it was “up to India” to handle the ongoing violence in parts of Delhi. Trump and Modi held bilateral discussions and discussed a potentially “big trade deal”.
President Donald Trump and Melania Trump landed in Delhi on Monday night. Earlier on Monday, the president had addressed a massive gathering in Ahmedabad, and visited the Taj Mahal in Agra. On Tuesday, the couple visited Rajghat to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi.
Pertinently Trump has offered to mediate in the Kashmir dispute four times since last year, but India has repeatedly rejected it.
