India rejects President Trump’s claim about India seeking US arbitration on Kashmir Issue

On Monday, at the joint press briefing with the Pakistani PM Imran Khan, the US President Donald Trump while expressing his willingness to arbitrate in resolving the issue of Kashmir said that the Indian PM Modi had sought US mediation in resolving the Kashmir issue, to which he replied that he would love to do so.

While his statement indicated India’s willingness to accept US arbitration in resolving the longstanding issue, the Indian Foreign Ministry rejected the claim by stating “no such request has been made by PM Modi to the US President”.

The spokesperson for the Indian Foreign Ministry Raveesh Kumar said in a series of tweets, “We have seen @POTUS‘s remarks to the press that he is ready to mediate, if requested by India & Pakistan, on Kashmir issue. No such request has been made by PM @narendramodi to US President. It has been India’s consistent position that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed only bilaterally. Any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to cross border terrorism. The Shimla Agreement & the Lahore Declaration provide the basis to resolve all issues between India & Pakistan bilaterally.”

The US Congressman Brad Sherman also took it to twitter to react to the claim of President Trump by saying “Everyone who knows anything about foreign policy in South Asia knows that India consistently opposes third-party mediation in Kashmir.” He termed Trump’s behavior as “amateurish and embarrassing mistake”, saying that he “just apologized to Indian Ambassador Harsh Shringla”

Meanwhile, the Acting Assistant Secretary Alice Wells remarked “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.”

The Washington Post called it out saying “Trump’s ignorance was on full display in his meeting with Imran Khan”