New Delhi - Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi never asked US President Donald Trump to help
mediate with Pakistan their dispute over the Kashmir region, the
government said on Tuesday, after Trump's comments set off a
storm of criticism.
Trump told reporters on Monday that Modi had asked him,
during a meeting in Japan last month, if he would like to be a
mediator on Kashmir, which is at the heart of decades of
hostility between India and Pakisan.
Trump was speaking at the White House just before he sat
down for talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan who
welcomed the U.S. effort to intercede, saying he would carry the
hopes of more than a billion people in the region.
But the comments triggered a political storm in India which
has long bristled at any suggestion of third-party involvement
in tackling Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region that it considers
as an integral part of the country.
The divided Himalayan region is claimed by both
Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan and the nuclear-armed
neighbours have gone to war two times over the territory since
independence in 1947.
Pakistan has long pressed for the implementation of
decades-old U.N. resolutions calling for a ballot for the region
to decide its future. India says the United Nations has no role
in Kashmir, where separatist militants have bene battling Indian
forces for years.
Trump's comments risked further straining political ties
with India which are already under pressure over trade.
Foreign Minister Subrahmanyan Jaishankar, who was part of
the Indian delegation at the G20 meeting in Japan where Trump
and Modi met, told agitated lawmakers that Modi did not seek any
help from Trump over Kashmir.
"The U.S. president made certain remarks to the effect he
was ready to mediate if requested by India and Pakistan. I
categorically assure the house that no such request has been
made by the prime minister, I repeat, no such request was made,"
he told parliament.
Tension between India and Pakistan has been high since an
attack on an Indian military convoy in Kashmir in February
claimed by a Pakistan-based militant group prompted India to
send warplanes into Pakistan.
Pakistan retaliated by ordering its jets into India's side
of Kashmir the following day, raising the prospect of a wider
conflict.
Jaishankar said there could be no third-party involvement in
India's problems with Pakistan.
"I also reiterate that it has been India's position that all
outstanding issues are discussed only bilaterally. I further
underline any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to
cross-border terrorism."
Pakistan denies Indian accusations that it gives material
help to the militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir for nearly
three decades, but says it gives moral and diplomatic support to
the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination.
'PRAYERS'
Soon after Trump's remarks, the U.S. State Department said
in a post on Twitter that it supported any dialogue between
India and Pakistan but that 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.
The Democratic chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives
Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, spoke to the Indian
ambassador to say there was no change in the U.S. position on
Kashmir, the committee said on Twitter.
"Engel reiterated his support for the longstanding U.S.
position on the Kashmir dispute, saying he supported dialogue
between India & Pakistan, but the dialogue’s pace & scope can
only be determined by India & Pakistan."
He also said that Pakistan must "dismantle the terrorist
infrastructure" for any meaningful dialogue with India.
Pakistan's Khan and Kashmiri separatists welcomed U.S.
intervention.
"I can tell you right now Mr President you will have the
prayers of over a billion people if you can mediate and resolve
this issue," Khan said.
Kashmir separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said he would
support any effort to end the conflict in the region in which
tens of thousands have been killed, and the people of Kashmir
would welcome Trump's intervention.
Trump and Khan also discussed ways to end the 18-year war in
Afghanistan. The United States sees Pakistan's cooperation as
crucial to any deal to ensure the country does not become a base
for militant groups like Islamic State.