On Monday afternoon in Washing D.C, President Trump managed to create a panic 7,481 miles away in New Delhi with a revelation: "I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago. He actually said, ‘Would you like to be a mediator or arbitrator?’ I said, ‘Where?’ He said, ‘Kashmir.’”
Sat next to him was Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan, who couldn't wash the smile of his face and to be fair, I doubt he tried.
Trump then added: “I’d love to be a mediator.”
Across in New Delhi, where night had set in, everyone was taken back by what had just happened. In a matter of seconds, Raveesh Kumar, a spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs tweeted, "No such request has been made".
For a time being calm set in when the official press release of the meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Donald Trump was released. There was no mention of Kashmir, neither was there any mention of India. Cross boarder terrorism on the other was included.
Unfortunately for New Delhi, the calm didn't last long. The morning after the press conference, the opposition in the lower and upper house of India's parliament, took the Indian government to the cleaners. They repeatedly asked for a clarification on the matter. The country’s external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, read out a statement in the upper house of parliament, identical to what his spokesman had tweeted earlier: “I repeat, no such request was made by the prime minister to the U.S. president.”
While the Indian opposition is trying to pressure the government on this matter, the Indian media has called out President Trump as a liar, clearing Prime Minister Modi of inviting a third party into talks between Pakistan.
Trump's Chief Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow told reporters at the White House when a journalist following up on the president's remarks asked if it was made up, "It is a very rude question". He added, "The president doesn't make things up".
Unfortunately for the White House, a number of U.S. lawmakers, came out against President Trump's statement and tried to smooth waters between India and United States.
Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democratic member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, tweeted,
"Everyone who knows anything about foreign policy in South Asia knows that India consistently opposes third-party mediation in Kashmir. Everyone knows PM Modi would never suggest such a thing. Trump’s statement is amateurish and delusional. And embarrassing. I just apologized to Indian Ambassador Harsh Shringla for Trump's amateurish and embarrassing mistake."
And Alice Wells, the acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, took back Trump’s comments through a tweet, “Kashmir is a bilateral issue for both parties to discuss.”
All this raises a number of questions.
What did Prime Minister and President Trump discuss when they met at the G-20 summit earlier this year?
The rational argument that can be made is that Trump may have exaggerated the discussion he had with Prime Minister Modi. Unfortunately, the reality does not matter now. It is an extremely difficult situation that the two countries (India and United States) find themselves in. It also makes sense, considering the situation and the intensity of the relations why Prime Minister Modi has till now mot commented on this. It'll be hard to see how the two can get out of this without damaging the relationship between the two countries, considering this revelation will stay relevant in time till it is properly addressed.
Will this affect the current relationship between India and United States, considering they are already in a trade war?
It most definitely will have an affect. What will be interesting to see will be the nature and the level of the said affect. Unfortunately, the remarks were made in a press conference regarding Kashmir, an issue that Pakistan is keen on making relevant internationally. How India and United States deal with this and how much can the India media continue to target President Trump before the United States gets annoyed, time will tell. It also will be interesting to observe whether President Trump sticks to his statement or finds a political answer to what he said. In the latter case, things will settle down, though President Trump is not much known for settling things down.
Is India's panic warranted?
It most certainly is. Kashmir has been a concern for the two nuclear arm neighbours since Independence but India has stuck to its stance of bilateral talks and no third party involvement since the Shimla agreement took place. The reason for that is, if a third party was to get involved, it may prove to be disastrous for India. The Human Rights Commission as well as many organizations have repeatedly called out India for their human rights abuse in Kashmir. India also doesn't recognize Kashmir as disputed but considers it as a part of itself. To have a mediator on this issue would be India accepting that this is indeed a disputed territory. And any solution but Kashmir being a part of India, is not acceptable to India, which becomes highly unlikely as the only solution with a third party mediator present.
Can this be considered as a win for Pakistan?
The only obvious winner from this is Pakistan. It is hard to see if Pakistan had anything to do directly with this, but they've come out from that press conference unscathed, but have made Kashmir a talking point once again in the international community and have possibly poked a hole in India-US relations that are already in a trade-war between each other.
Sat next to him was Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan, who couldn't wash the smile of his face and to be fair, I doubt he tried.
Trump then added: “I’d love to be a mediator.”
Across in New Delhi, where night had set in, everyone was taken back by what had just happened. In a matter of seconds, Raveesh Kumar, a spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs tweeted, "No such request has been made".
For a time being calm set in when the official press release of the meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Donald Trump was released. There was no mention of Kashmir, neither was there any mention of India. Cross boarder terrorism on the other was included.
Unfortunately for New Delhi, the calm didn't last long. The morning after the press conference, the opposition in the lower and upper house of India's parliament, took the Indian government to the cleaners. They repeatedly asked for a clarification on the matter. The country’s external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, read out a statement in the upper house of parliament, identical to what his spokesman had tweeted earlier: “I repeat, no such request was made by the prime minister to the U.S. president.”
While the Indian opposition is trying to pressure the government on this matter, the Indian media has called out President Trump as a liar, clearing Prime Minister Modi of inviting a third party into talks between Pakistan.
Trump's Chief Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow told reporters at the White House when a journalist following up on the president's remarks asked if it was made up, "It is a very rude question". He added, "The president doesn't make things up".
Unfortunately for the White House, a number of U.S. lawmakers, came out against President Trump's statement and tried to smooth waters between India and United States.
Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democratic member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, tweeted,
"Everyone who knows anything about foreign policy in South Asia knows that India consistently opposes third-party mediation in Kashmir. Everyone knows PM Modi would never suggest such a thing. Trump’s statement is amateurish and delusional. And embarrassing. I just apologized to Indian Ambassador Harsh Shringla for Trump's amateurish and embarrassing mistake."
And Alice Wells, the acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, took back Trump’s comments through a tweet, “Kashmir is a bilateral issue for both parties to discuss.”
All this raises a number of questions.
What did Prime Minister and President Trump discuss when they met at the G-20 summit earlier this year?
The rational argument that can be made is that Trump may have exaggerated the discussion he had with Prime Minister Modi. Unfortunately, the reality does not matter now. It is an extremely difficult situation that the two countries (India and United States) find themselves in. It also makes sense, considering the situation and the intensity of the relations why Prime Minister Modi has till now mot commented on this. It'll be hard to see how the two can get out of this without damaging the relationship between the two countries, considering this revelation will stay relevant in time till it is properly addressed.
Will this affect the current relationship between India and United States, considering they are already in a trade war?
It most definitely will have an affect. What will be interesting to see will be the nature and the level of the said affect. Unfortunately, the remarks were made in a press conference regarding Kashmir, an issue that Pakistan is keen on making relevant internationally. How India and United States deal with this and how much can the India media continue to target President Trump before the United States gets annoyed, time will tell. It also will be interesting to observe whether President Trump sticks to his statement or finds a political answer to what he said. In the latter case, things will settle down, though President Trump is not much known for settling things down.
Is India's panic warranted?
It most certainly is. Kashmir has been a concern for the two nuclear arm neighbours since Independence but India has stuck to its stance of bilateral talks and no third party involvement since the Shimla agreement took place. The reason for that is, if a third party was to get involved, it may prove to be disastrous for India. The Human Rights Commission as well as many organizations have repeatedly called out India for their human rights abuse in Kashmir. India also doesn't recognize Kashmir as disputed but considers it as a part of itself. To have a mediator on this issue would be India accepting that this is indeed a disputed territory. And any solution but Kashmir being a part of India, is not acceptable to India, which becomes highly unlikely as the only solution with a third party mediator present.
Can this be considered as a win for Pakistan?
The only obvious winner from this is Pakistan. It is hard to see if Pakistan had anything to do directly with this, but they've come out from that press conference unscathed, but have made Kashmir a talking point once again in the international community and have possibly poked a hole in India-US relations that are already in a trade-war between each other.
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