US President Donald Trump reiterated his offer for mediation between Pakistan and India over the Kashmir dispute. The US President also said that Pakistan was progressing well in counterterrorism but Iran was a real threat to the entire Middle East and maybe beyond.
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Trump said that he had never failed as an arbitrator in the past and would be available to help if asked. “If I can help, I will certainly do that,” he said. “If both (Pakistan and India) want, I am ready, willing and able to do it,” he said. “I think it’s important that both sides want Washington to mediate on the Kashmir issue.”
When asked if he was concerned about human rights violations in Kashmir, he said, “Yes…I am, I want both sides to come to the negotiating table… I’d like to see everything work out. I want everybody to be treated well. There is always a solution and I do believe that there is a solution.”
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Trump said he has a “very good relationship” with Indian counterpart Narendra Modi as well as with PM Imran Khan and hoped the two neighbours would come together and resolve their differences over Kashmir.
Without specifying, he added he had heard a “very aggressive” statement from Modi on Sunday, but “I hope they (Pakistan and India) are going to be able to come together and do something that’s really smart and good for both”.
Many country heads wanted to meet President of the US @realDonaldTrump but one of the countries’ heads Trump wanted to meet, was Imran Khan. Tells a lot about Pakistan’s global standing, doesn’t it? #ManOfPeaceImranKhan pic.twitter.com/7K0ZRXai9X
— PTI (@PTIofficial) September 23, 2019
Trump also said the previous US governments treated Pakistan badly and that he trusts the current leadership of the country. “I trust Pakistan but people before me didn’t, but they didn’t know what they were doing,” he said in response to a question. “I really trust and like him [Imran Khan],” he said.
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Commenting on Pakistan’s progress to counterterrorism, he said: “I have heard they have made great progress and I think he (Imran) wants to make great progress.” However, he added Iran was “doing very poorly”. He said when he took office, “Iran was a real threat to the entire Middle East and maybe beyond. And now they are having very very big difficulties, to put it mildly.” Answering another question, Trump termed Iran as the “number one state of terror in the world”.
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When Khan was asked about his expectations from Trump on Kashmir, he replied that Trump heads the most powerful country in the world, which has a responsibility to resolve disputes. “The world looks to the US to put out the flames in the world.
He said even though Trump had offered to mediate, India was refusing to talk to Pakistan. “In this situation, I feel that this is the beginning of a crisis. I honestly feel that the crisis is going to get much bigger [considering] what is happening in Kashmir,” cautioned.
