Indian confusion on Kashmir: Trump doesn’t make up things, says adviser

WASHINGTON: A top Trump adviser on Wednesday clarified that US President Donald Trump does not make up things himself. He was responding to a question on President Trump’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate on the Kashmir issue, remarks which were strongly refuted by India.“It is a very rude question. The president does not make anything up. That’s a very rude question in my opinion. I am going to stay out of that. It’s outside of my lane. It’s for Mr (National Security Adviser John) Bolton, Mr (Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo and President, so I am not going to comment on that. President does not make things up,” Trump’s Chief Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow told media at the White House.President Donald Trump on Monday offered to mediate the decades-long Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan, a move that would signal a shift in long-standing US policy that the issue must be solved bilaterally. “If I can help, I would love to be a mediator,” Trump said at the White House, where he was hosting Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan.President Trump claimed that Prime Minister Modi asked him to mediate on Kashmir when they met in Osaka, Japan on the sidelines of the G20 Summit last month. Trump set off a political storm in India by claiming during a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan in Washington that Modi had asked him two weeks ago to mediate in the Kashmir dispute.India’s foreign minister was forced to issue a strenuous denial to an infuriated opposition in parliament, after US President Donald Trump said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited him to mediate in the conflict with Pakistan over Kashmir. PM Imran Khan while responding to Indian fury said he was surprised by the reaction of India to the US President’s offer of mediation to bring Islamabad and New Delhi to dialogue table for resolving Kashmir conflict which has held subcontinent hostage for 70 years.

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