Unfair reactions from India

Modi yet to deny or confirm what transpired between him and Trump

President Trump’s offer to mediate on the Kashmir dispute has not only led to a political storm in India but has left the Modi government in a diplomatically awkward situation. The Indian media also seemed to have gone hysterical calling Trump a liar and disputing the assertion that Modi ever asked the US President to help resolve the Kashmir issue.

During media talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday, President Trump revealed that the Indian PM on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Tokyo last month had asked for his mediatory role in helping resolve the issue of Kashmir between India and Pakistan. It, however, provoked uproar in the Indian parliament with opposition lawmakers seeking a personal explanation from their PM.

While Modi is yet to deny or confirm what transpired between him and Trump, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyan Jaishankar, while trying to bail his government out of this diplomatic crisis, told parliament that “the US 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.”

He further said, “I also reiterate that it has been India’s position that all outstanding issues are discussed only bilaterally. I further underline any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to cross-border terrorism.”

India has since long expressed its aversion to third-party involvement in helping resolve the Kashmir dispute. New Delhi rests its argument on a clause of the Simla Agreement which reads: The two countries are resolved to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations or by other peaceful means mutually agreed upon between them.

But the Indian leadership needs to be reminded that it was the US intervention that helped India and Pakistan come out of another awkward situation — the Kargil crisis.

However, whether it was another faux pas or bluster on the part of Trump; whether he was lying or he misunderstood what Modi conveyed to him; whether he, finding himself in a desperate situation in Afghanistan, was trying to appease Pakistan; the Indian reaction is definitely uncalled for and unfair.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2019.

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