New Delhi : US President Donald Trump on Tuesday again offered to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. Addressing a press conference on Day 2 of his two-day state visit to India, Trump said, "Anything I can do to mediate or help, I would do."
Bringing in Pakistan's reference, he said, "They (Pakistan) are working on Kashmir. Kashmir has been a thorn in lots of people's sides for a long time. There are two sides to every story. We discussed terrorism at length today." Earlier, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, "Discussion was centered on positive developments in Jammu & Kashmir. Things are moving in the right direction."
Soon after the abrogation of Article 370 that granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in August last year, Trump had offered to mediate the "explosive" situation in Kashmir amid mounting international concern over a flare-up in violence between India and Pakistan. "And I think we're helping the situation, but there's tremendous problems between the two countries. And I will do the best I can to meditate or do something." Again in January this year on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump had repeated his mediation offer at an interaction with the press ahead of his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.
"We will discuss the situation in Kashmir. We can meditate on the issue. If we can help, we certainly will be helping. We have been watching that and following it very very closely," he had said.
On both occasions, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs had rejected the US President's offer, saying, "Kashmir is a bilateral issue and will have to be solved bilaterally."
Trump steers clear of row over CAA
After talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday stressed that the Indian leader wants people to have religious freedom and also steered clear of the row over the contentious CAA even as he said an over USD 3 billion defense deal was finalized for the supply of advanced American military equipment to India.
Trump also repeated his mediation offer to defuse tensions between India and Pakistan, noting Kashmir is a "big problem" and has been "thorn in a lot of people's sides" for a long time. He said there are two sides to every story, comments that came days ahead of the plans to sign a peace deal between the US and Taliban on February 29 for which Pakistan has been invited.
US to reduce more regulations: Trump
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday promised to reduce more regulations in his country as he looked for overseas investment to boost American economy. Speaking at a meeting with CEOs, he said a trade deal with India is in the works, but did not share any details.
"It has been an honor to be here," he said on visiting India. "We just did a lot of business with India where they will buy helicopters worth USD 3 billion." On Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, "he is a very tough man, but he is also very nice man."
"We create jobs here, he creates jobs there (in the US)," he said. The governments, he said can only aid in creating jobs and it's private industry that actually creates jobs. On regulations in the US, he said some of the regulations have to go through the statutory process, but his government is committed to reducing a "lot more regulations."
Stating that he is going to win the coming US presidential elections that will cause the markets to boom, he said his government has done a lot for the economy, healthcare, and military.