http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0005893621
Trump stirs India fury over Kashmir offer
AP file photo
U.S. President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28.
8:15 pm, July 24, 2019
ReutersNEW DELHI (Reuters) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi never asked U.S. President Donald Trump to help mediate with Pakistan in their dispute over the Kashmir region, the government said 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. The territory is at the heart of decades of hostility between India and Pakistan.
Trump was speaking at the White House just before holding talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. Khan 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 an integral part of the country.
Foreign Minister Subrahmanyan Jaishankar, who was part of the Indian delegation at the G20 meeting 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.
The divided Himalayan region is claimed by both Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan and the nuclear-armed neighbours have gone to war twice 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 been battling Indian forces for years.
Trump’s comments risked further straining political ties with India, which are already under pressure over trade.
Trump stirs India fury over Kashmir offer
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AP file photo
U.S. President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28.
8:15 pm, July 24, 2019
ReutersNEW DELHI (Reuters) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi never asked U.S. President Donald Trump to help mediate with Pakistan in their dispute over the Kashmir region, the government said 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. The territory is at the heart of decades of hostility between India and Pakistan.
Trump was speaking at the White House just before holding talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. Khan 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 an integral part of the country.
Foreign Minister Subrahmanyan Jaishankar, who was part of the Indian delegation at the G20 meeting 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.
The divided Himalayan region is claimed by both Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan and the nuclear-armed neighbours have gone to war twice 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 been battling Indian forces for years.
Trump’s comments risked further straining political ties with India, which are already under pressure over trade.
