United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday stressed on the need for dialogue between India and Pakistan and said that it would be great if the two countries “can work out something on Kashmir”. He was speaking after a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York. He said Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will get along if they get to know each other.
Trump added that Modi will be able to tackle terrorism that comes from Pakistan. Besides terrorism, the two leaders also spoke about trade.
All timestamps are according to the Indian Standard Time.
Here are the updates from the meeting:
11.38 pm: Gokhale also adds that India and US did not discuss a timeline on trade agreement. “But we are optimistic that we will reach an agreement fairly soon,” he adds, according to News18.
11.35 pm: The two leaders did not discuss Iran or Afghanistan due to a shortage of time, Gokhale adds.
11.33 pm: Gokhale says that India’s position on mediation in the Kashmir dispute is clear. “If we wish to talk, it will only be bilaterally with Pakistan,” he says, according to News18.
11.30 pm: Gokhale adds that Modi put forward India’s perspective on terrorism, and Trump understood it.
11.25 pm: “PM Modi made it clear that we are not shying away from talks with Pakistan but we expect certain concrete steps to be taken by Pakistan before that, and we don’t find any efforts by them,” adds Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, according to ANI.
11.20 pm: Gokhale says India is “quite satisfied” with the meeting between Modi and Trump. “We raised the challenges we face with regard to terrorism especially in Jammu and Kashmir,” Gokhale says, according to ANI.
11.15 pm: Foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale addresses the media after the meeting. He confirms that Union minister Piyush Goyal has travelled to the US and is having discussions with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, ANI reports.
10.50 pm: Modi presents a framed photograph of “Howdy, Modi” event to Trump. “President Trump thanked PM Modi for this gesture,” the Prime Minister’s Office says in a tweet.
10.35 pm: Speaking about the Houston rally, Trump says people in the event went crazy, and Modi was like Elvis Presley.
The “Howdy, Modi” rally in Texas on Sunday was attended by a crowd of over 50,000 people.
10.32 pm: The president says he really likes Modi and has great respect for him.
10.30 pm: Trump adds that Modi is a great gentleman and a great leader, reports ANI. “I remember India before was very torn,” he says at the bilateral interaction. “There was a lot of dissent, fighting and he brought it all together. Like a father would bring it together. Maybe he is the Father of India. We will call him the Father of India.”
10.25 pm: Trump says his personal chemistry with Modi is “as good as it can get”.
10.18 pm: Trump says both Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will get together and work something out. “I really believe that Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Khan will get along when they get to know each other,” he says. “I think a lot of good things will come from that meeting.”
10.17 pm: Trump says it would be great if both India and Pakistan can work something out on Kashmir dispute. “We all want to see that,” says Trump.
10.16 pm: Donald Trump says Prime Minister Narendra Modi can handle terrorism coming from Pakistan.
10.13 pm: Modi says Trump is a great friend of India and thanks him for his Houston visit. “I am very grateful to President Donald Trump,” the prime minister says. “He took time out and came to Houston and for Indian-Americans this a proud moment. I am very thankful for this from the bottom of my heart. He is my friend but he is also a good friend of India,” says Modi,
10.10 pm: Trump speaks about trade deal. “We are doing very well ... I think very soon we will have a trade deal,” he says.
9.52 pm: The meeting begins at the UN Headquarters in New York.
9.45 pm: Trump has offered to mediate in the Kashmir conflict several times in the past since tensions between India and Pakistan heightened after the former’s decision to revoke the region’s special status. However, India has turned down Trump’s offer and maintained that it was an internal matter.
9.42 pm: Trump’s remarks came a day after he met the Pakistani prime minister and said that his mediation offer was still in place if New Delhi and Islamabad agreed to it. The United States president had called himself an “extremely good arbitrator”, and added that “if I can help, I will certainly do that.”
9.40 pm: Hours ahead of the meeting, Trump reiterated his offer to mediate in the dispute between India and Pakistan over the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. “I think as far as Pakistan is concerned, India, their talking, I’m certainly willing to help,” Trump said, according to ANI, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York City.
Also read:
J&K dispute: Ahead of meeting with Modi, Trump reiterates offer to mediate between India, Pakistan
9.38 pm: On Monday, Modi spoke at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York. He said India will spend $50 billion [approximately Rs 3.5 lakh crore] on water conservation in the next few years, and pledged to increase the country’s share of non-fossil fuel to 450 gigawatts.
9.35 pm: Modi and Trump addressed over 50,000 Indian-Americans at the “Howdy Modi” event in Houston on Sunday. Both leaders said in their speeches that the relationship between the two countries had never been better. Trump praised Modi’s leadership of India, and talked about the opportunities for the countries to deepen their trade relations.
Modi insisted that everything in India is fine, repeating the statement in multiple Indian languages to drive home the idea. With portions of the Kashmir Valley still under a lockdown, Modi said the revocation of the region’s special status was a great achievement that would give more rights to the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
9.30 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump are expected to meet soon for their bilateral meeting. Indian officials have refused to divulge details of the agenda of the meeting, but it is expected to be about agreements on trade and economic matters.
Modi has been in the United States since Saturday on a week-long visit.