Washington sources reported that As US President Donald Trump, in an off-hand manner, renewed his offer of mediation in the Kashmir issue, india on Friday firmly rejected the offer, saying that any discussion on Kashmir, if warranted, will only be with pakistan, and only bilaterally. Hours after Trump told reporters in Washington that “it is up to Prime Minister modi” to accept his offer to intervene in Kashmir, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, conveyed “in clear terms that any discussion on Kashmir, if at all warranted, will only be with pakistan and only bilaterally”.
Jaishankar tweeted: “Wide ranging discussions with @SecPompeo on regional issues. Have conveyed to American counterpart @SecPompeo this morning in clear terms that any discussion on Kashmir, if at all warranted, will only be with pakistan and only bilaterally.” On Thursday, to a query by a reporter in the White House on the Kashmir issue, Trump, said: “Have they accepted the offer or not (to mediate)? Well, it is really up to Prime Minister modi.”
Trump added: “I spoke frankly to india about that; but that’s been going, that battle, for a long time. If I can, if they wanted to, I would certainly help them.” Reacting to Trump’s renewed offer, pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi urged the US to use its “influence” to “persuade” india to start talks on the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue.
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