Improve ties with Pakistan
- Modi told Trump that 42,000 lives have been lost in last 30 years due to terrorism in J&K
- Pak PM says Trump asked him to mediate with Iran
US President Donald Trump “encouraged” Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve relations with Pakistan and fulfil his promise to better the lives of the Kashmiri people, according to a readout issued by the Prime Minister Modi and President Trump met on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session.
Their 40-minute talks mainly focused on the bilateral trade and issues related to terrorism emanating from Pakistan. President Trump noted good progress on defence and security cooperation, the readout said.
“Additionally, the President encouraged Prime Minister Modi to improve relations with Pakistan and fulfil his promise to better the lives of the Kashmiri people,” it added.
Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said the Prime Minister explained in detail to President Trump the challenges faced by India due to terrorism, especially in Jammu and Kashmir.
He told President Trump that 42,000 lives have been lost in the last 30 years due to terrorism in Kashmir and sought the support from the international community to fight the scourge of terrorism, Gokhale told reporters at a briefing, reported PTI.
“We expect that the overtures the Prime Minister has made over the years ought to have been reciprocated and none of them have been reciprocated, beginning with Prime Minister’s invitation of the oath taking ceremony and then as Prime Minister said his unique trip to Lahore in December 2015 with minimum security,” Gokhale said.
He added that Prime Minister Modi explained to President Trump that immediately after his visit to Lahore in 2015, there was an attack on the Pathankot Airbase and Pakistan has not brought the perpetrators of the crime to justice.
Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said Tuesday Trump had asked him to mediate with Iran to defuse tensions, though the US president later suggested it was Khan who approached him and nothing was final, reported AFP.
Khan met Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of this week’s United Nations General Assembly.
“Trump asked me that if we could de-escalate the situation and maybe come up with another deal,” Khan told reporters at the gathering of world leaders in New York.
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