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India shuts down Trump’s claim he was invited to mediate in Kashmir, with government declaring US president not welcome
India has rejected Donald Trump's claim that he was invited to mediate in the Kashmir conflict with Pakistan, insisting he was never asked.The Indian government issued a stark rebuff on Tuesday by saying the US president's services were never requested, despite Trump saying they were. Trump told reporters on Monday that Indian prime minister Narendra Modi had asked him, during a meeting at last month's G20 summit, if he would like to be a mediator on Kashmir, a territory at the centre of decades of sharp hostility between India and Pakistan.His comments at the White House were welcomed by Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, who hailed Trump's offer of involvement as raising the hopes of the millions who live in the tense region. But across the border in India, reports that Modi had invited Trump to help calm the febrile climate in Kashmir sparked a political storm.Opposition leaders accused Mr Modi of "betraying India's interests" and called for him to speak out decisively to reject Trump's remarks, but thus far he has remained silent.The row could prove devastating for the Trump administration, as it risks further straining political ties with India which are already under pressure over trade.Many Indians were left furious that their leader could part ties with the unwritten rule around the territory - that the involvement of foreign powers is not welcome. Foreign Minister Subrahmanyan Jaishankar, who was part of the Indian delegation in Japan where Mr Trump and Mr 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. India, which has a Hindu majority, has long maintained the view that Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is an integral part of its own country.But Islamic Pakistan makes the same claim, hence the land has become some of the most contested in recent history, a war of words and weapons that has seen the nuclear-armed neighbours go to war twice since independence in 1947.Pakistan has long pressed for the implementation of decades-old UN resolutions calling for a ballot for the region to decide its future, but India says the United Nations has no role in Kashmir, where separatist militants have been battling Indian forces for years.Tension between the two countries has been high since an attack on an Indian military convoy in Kashmir in February, claimed by a Pakistani 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 that would only raise a death toll already in the tens of thousands.It is a situation that the international community is keen to avoid given the severe geopolitical ramifications of a escalation in tensions.The United States is invested in winning Pakistan's cooperation, seeing it as crucial to any deal to ensure the country does not become a base for militant groups like Islamic State after their fall from prominence in Afghanistan and Iraq.But Mr Jaishankar closed any possibility of Trump joining the affray, saying there could strictly 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," he said."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.It is not the first embarrassment for Trump after his remarks at the summit in Japan, as the U.S. State Department took to twitter soon after, adamant that resolving the issue of Kashmir was a matter for the two countries themselves.US officials said: "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 Democratic chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, spoke to the Indian ambassador to reassure him 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 space and scope can only be determined by India & Pakistan," the post read.He added that Pakistan must "dismantle the terrorist infrastructure" for any meaningful dialogue with India.India accuses Pakistan of arming and training insurgents who have been fighting since 1989 for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with Pakistan, a charge that Islamabad denies.The two sides cut dialogue on outstanding issues after Mr Modi's government came to power in 2014, with India demanding that Pakistan first end cross-border terrorism.Agencies contributed to this report
The first one-on-one meeting of Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and US president Donald Trump in the White House on Monday marked a new beginning in the complicated relationship between the two countries. It’s no secret that the US and Pakistan haven’t seen eye-to-eye over the last few years. Since the Cold War, diplomacy has been strained; events like 9/11 almost stretched them beyond breaking point.
The Trump-Khan meeting this week, however, ushered in the possibility of repairing US-Pakistan relations for good. The meeting seemed to go amicably; Pakistani outlets responded positively. One moment triggered particular debate internationally: the moment when Donald Trump said of the Kashmir dispute, “If I can help, I’d love to be a mediator.”
Of course there is much to be said about Trump’s desire to do deals across the globe. But by offering the US mediation in this 70-year conflict, the president also hinted at a shift in the US’s long-standing policy on Kashmir. Before this, it was accepted without question that the dispute could and should only be solved between India and Pakistan, without mediation.
Indian prime minister Modi, who Trump said had asked for his help, immediately rebuffed the US president’s claims. That’s not surprising, considering that India has rejected third party mediation for decades. The Indian government likes to call Kashmir a bilateral issue, but it has never engaged in properly meaningful dialogue with Pakistan about it. It’s clear that it’s time for a change.
The existing UN Security Council has so far failed to implement its own resolutions of 1948 and 1949 demanding a plebiscite in Kashmir. This is the unfinished business of the India partition agenda of 1947, which gave birth to India and Pakistan. The countries have gone to a full-scale war three times over this relatively small region. Today, Kashmir has emerged as a dangerous flashpoint for nuclear war between two nuclear-armed nations. Dangerous escalations in February of this year almost pushed the two countries to the brink.
Considering that Kashmir now has the potential to trigger nuclear conflict — something which would have widespread consequences for the entire continent and, indeed, the world — it simply cannot remain a bilateral issue. Climate scientists and human rights activists have spoke of their grave concerns about the disastrous consequences of nuclear war that could kill millions and adversely affect billions on this planet. Trump won the hearts of 200 million Pakistanis when he offered mediation on Kashmir, which is the root cause of all tensions between India and Pakistan.
It is absolutely not in the national interest of Pakistan to maintain a hostile relationship with a superpower like the US. From a merely economic viewpoint, a good relationship with the US is important for cash-strapped Pakistan, as the US is the country's largest export market, particularly for cotton and textiles. To put it bluntly, Pakistan’s economy is a shambles. Trade — if not aid — from the US could alleviate that. Trump showed willingness to invest in Pakistan during his meeting with Khan, and spoke of the historical trade relationship between the two countries.
The US and Pakistan have been strategic partners since Cold War era. In the early seventies, Islamabad served as a bridge for talks between the US and China when Washington was keen to strengthen its position in Southeast Asia against the defunct Soviet Union. During Richard Nixon’s administration, US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger reached out to Beijing through a backchannel provided by Pakistan.
Today, Trump needs Pakistan’s help again to play a key role in concluding a peace deal with the Taliban, in order to end America’s long war with Afghanistan. Trump also hinted at restoring US security assistance, which was drastically reduced last year, to Pakistan.
The US president knows that Pakistan’s help with Afghanistan could pave the way for hundreds of US troops to return home. He undoubtedly used Khan’s visit to the White House as an opportunity to incentivize Pakistan to use its leverage with the Taliban.
A peaceful US exit from Afghanistan is, however, not an easy business. All the stakeholders and anti-terror allies involved, including Pakistan, will have to put their other geopolitical and strategic considerations aside.
Today, Afghanistan is more unsafe than it was in 2001 when the US-led anti-terror alliance invaded the country. On 1 July, at least 16 people were killed and over 100 wounded when the Taliban attacked the country's capital housing military and government buildings. The attack came just two days after the Taliban began a seventh round of talks with the US in Qatar.
It’s clear this is going to be an uphill struggle. But, if Trump walks the walk as well as talking the talk, it could be a very worthwhile one.
Syed Fazl-e-Haider is a contributing analyst on the South Asia desk of Wikistrat. He is also the author of books including 'Economic Development of Balochistan'
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