New Delhi: US President Donald Trump wants to hear from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the PM's plans to reduce tensions in Kashmir, a senior US official said on Saturday.
"We do expect the issue of India-Pakistan relations to come up. The President will likely want to hear from Prime Minister Modi on how he plans to reduce regional tensions and uphold respect for human rights for Kashmir, as part of India's role as the world's largest democracy," the official said.
Earlier last month, India abrogated provisions of Article 370 on the Constitution to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories, evoking strong reactions from Pakistan.
The US official further said that India's decision to rescind Article 370 in Kashmir is an internal decision, but certainly with regional implications. "The President may stress the need for dialogue among all sides of the conflict and his hope that India would lift the communications and movement restrictions in Kashmir and exercise the utmost restraint in dealing with potential protests," he added.
On July 23, amidst a din in the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made the same statement twice to underline that India’s stated position on mediation on Kashmir hadn’t changed. He emphatically rejected the claim by by US President Donald Trump that PM Modi had requested for mediation in their meeting in Osaka. Jaishankar then said, “I would Sir, also reiterate that it has been India's consistent position that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed only bilaterally.”
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