Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Sunday that United States President Donald Trump’s offer of mediation in the Kashmir dispute with India was “more that Pakistan expected”, Radio Pakistan reported quoting a private news channel.
Trump had last week claimed after a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to intervene in the Kashmir dispute.
“I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago and we talked about this subject and he actually said ‘Would you like to be a mediator or arbitrator’,” Trump said. “I said: ‘Where?’ He said: ‘Kashmir’. Because this has been going on for many many years. I was surprised how long it has been going on.” The Indian government immediately rejected Trump’s claim.
Qureshi said on Sunday that India’s adamant attitude about Kashmir can cost it heavily as the situation in the state is deteriorating, Radio Pakistan reported. The Pakistan foreign minister also claimed that India had initiated US mediation in Kashmir, but the Narendra Modi-led government was now backtracking due to protests in political circles.
Qureshi also claimed that Imran Khan made the US realise that Kashmir is a “flash point” which needs an early resolution. Qureshi said that Khan had told the US president that Pakistan is a peace-loving country that desires peace in the region, including with India.
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